: Encouraged by his artistic mother, Mitzi, Sammy begins making his own home movies using his father's 8mm camera. He recreates train crashes, directs his sisters in "monster" movies, and eventually makes more ambitious films for his Boy Scout troop.

(Gabriel LaBelle): The young protagonist and aspiring filmmaker.

(Michelle Williams): Sammy's artistic, free-spirited mother.

The story follows , a young boy growing up in post-World War II America who becomes obsessed with cinema after seeing his first movie, The Greatest Show on Earth . Plot Overview

: The film explores the conflict between Sammy’s artistic drive and his personal life as he deals with his parents' fracturing marriage, antisemitic bullying at school, and first love.