In a sleepy, windswept Texas town set in the early 1950s, the lives of a group of high school seniors and residents intertwine as they navigate the dusty road from adolescence to adulthood. The town's social hub, a dilapidated movie theater, is on the verge of closing, symbolizing the end of an era and the uncertainty of the future. Sonny Crawford, a sensitive and observant teenager, struggles with his desires and the expectations thrust upon him, while his best friend and high school star, Duane Jackson, courts the wealthy and flirtatious beauty, Jacy Farrow.

Amidst the bleakness of the town's decaying facade, a series of romantic and personal entanglements ensues. Jacy, driven by a restless desire to break free from her controlling mother and the confines of small-town life, audaciously pursues her sexual awakening. Simultaneously, Sonny finds an unexpected connection with an older woman, Ruth Popper, the neglected wife of the high school's coach, who provides an escape from his unfulfilling reality. The intricate web of relationships exposes the characters' vulnerabilities, and their choices set them on divergent paths, reflecting the bittersweet transition from the innocence of youth to the compromises of the adult world.