A small West Virginia town is devastated when ten men are killed in a mine accident. Amos (Boyd Holbrook), the only survivor, is physically hobbled by the tragedy and cannot sleep at night.
As an investigation begins, his father wants him to keep quiet about what really happened so everyone can go back to work. The miners' union leader wants him to blame the mine owners so that the families can benefit from a large cash settlement. The young survivor feels isolated from everyone in the community and especially from those who are pressuring him to side with them.
Owen (Jacob Lofland) is a high school freshman. His father died in the accident, and his mother Kendra (Chloe Sevigny) is trying hard to hold things together on her own. She orders Owen to look after his younger brother James (Beau Wright) who has Down syndrome. When they go into the woods, an accident takes place that changes the two brothers forever. Owen decides to keep what has happened a secret.
A third family is deeply affected by ripples extending from the mine disaster. Bill (Josh Lucas), a middle manager there, is made the scapegoat by his bosses. Without a job, he has to scramble to survive. He and his wife Diane (Elizabeth Banks) are distraught when their teenage son JT (Travis Tope) does not return home. She is so unhinged by his disappearance that she even attends a Bible study group where she meets Amos who is very kind to her. Both of them are feeling adrift on a sea of troubles. They surprise each other and begin an affair.
Writer and director Sara Colangelo has developed this intensely ethical drama from her 2010 prize-winning short film. Other people might call the bad things that happen to good people "little accidents" but to those who suffer through them, there are no "little" accidents. Our hearts go out to the three lead characters who win our empathy as they struggle with difficulties that test the mind, body, and soul. Amos wrestles with his conscience; Owen comes to see that he must tell the truth about what happened in the woods; and Diane is challenged to find a more meaningful life than the one she has chosen.
This well-acted and spiritually charged film is a moving meditation on the truth of this observation by R.H. Blyth: "Nothing is little to him who feels it with great sensibility."