It is 1925, and the Burbank brothers, Phil and George, are wealthy ranchers in Montana. At the Red Mill restaurant, where they have stopped on their way to market, the brothers meet Rose, the widowed proprietress, and her impressionable son Peter. Phil behaves so cruelly he drives them both to tears. He seemingly revels in their hurt, rousing his fellow cowhands to laughter. His brother George, however, is horrified by Phil’s behavior, and comforts Rose. Following a brief interlude, the two are married. After Rose and Peter move into the brothers’ house, Phil’s mockery of the boy becomes more overt, amplified by the cheering of Phil′s cowhand disciples. Suddenly, Phil appears to change his behavior, as he takes the boy under his wing. Is this latest gesture a softening that leaves Phil exposed, or a plot twisting further into menace?