As a mysterious high plains drifter travels across the wintry North Dakota prairie, he finds a man lying unconscious in the middle of the road and stops to lend a hand. After defrosting, the man explains that he’s on his way to meet his pen-pal girlfriend for the first time, as she’s being released from prison. Desperate for a girlfriend of his own, the drifter sees this as an opportunity to change his lonely existence, and hatches a plan to steal his new companion’s identity, forever changing the destinies of all three people.

Twenty-six year old Scott is living on the streets and trying to find his way back into society while on probation for petty crimes. He attempts to navigate his relationship with his two bit criminal of a boss and an enigmatic detective, while at the same time winning back the heart of his ex-girlfriend, a working single mom. Never having a mother or father himself, Scott discovers the true meaning of fatherhood.