Trama

Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited.

A depressed mother's husband has left her for she could not bear a second child. Living alone with her only son, she has an unlikely meeting with an injured escaped convict, and reluctantly takes him into her own care. The man proves to be better than his criminal image as the three bond over Labor Day weekend. The only problem? Everyone in town is looking for him.

As the twosome shop for clothes Henry will wear when he begins seventh grade after the long Labor Day weekend, the boy is accosted by Frank (Josh Brolin), an escaped convict with a bleeding wound on his stomach. Frank manipulates Adele into letting him hide out at their house, and soon the seemingly scary man shows a strong domestic side and, in just a few days, develops a deep bond with both Adele and Frank..

In 1987, Adele Wheeler (Kate Winslet) is a depressed single mom who lives in a rural home with her 13-year-old son, Henry (Gattlin Griffith). They live in a run down home in the middle of a secluded area with few neighbors. The house is riddled with broken fences and roof tiles that have come off in several places. The house has not been painted in decades and it is in even worse condition from the inside.

Henry is a capable boy and takes care of Adele as well as himself. Henry's father Gerard (Clark Gregg) had left for his new family and had a wife Marjorie (Alexie Gilmore) and baby there. Richard (Lucas Hedges) was Marjorie's son from her first marriage. Gerard had asked Henry many times to move in with him, but Henry decides to stay with Adele. After Gerard left, Adele lost all faith in love.

Henry was making up for it ever since. He even made a coupon booklet for Adele including things like handyman, shoulder rub, taker her out on a date, running her a bubble bath and so on. But Henry knew that he could not give physical intimacy to Adele.

While they are clothes shopping, a bloody man approaches Henry and makes them take him home to look after him. The man is very forceful and although he doesn't threaten Henry or Adele, he gives the impression that he will resort to violence if his orders are not carried out precisely. The man says that he only wants to rest for a little while and will soon be on his way. The man is revealed to be Frank Chambers (Josh Brolin), a convict who is wanted by the local police after breaking out of jail. Once inside the house, Frank asks for permission to stay till nightfall and says that he never hurt anyone intentionally in his entire life.

Through flashbacks, it is revealed that Frank is a Vietnam veteran who returned home and married his pregnant girlfriend, Mandy (Maika Monroe), who soon gave birth. A year after the baby's birth, Frank and Mandy had a fight, in which, based on his suspicions he asks if he's even the baby's father. During the fight, he pushed her against a radiator, resulting in her death. Simultaneously, through imagery, it is implied that the baby drowned. Frank was sent to jail for murder.

It is also learned as Adele tells Frank through flashbacks that she has had pregnancy losses after Henry, including a number of miscarriages and finally, the full-term stillbirth of a baby girl. This has left Adele with significant psychological issues including severe social anxiety and depression, which Henry's father later explains to Henry as the reasons behind leaving her. Henry has tried to be both a son and a husband (innocently) but he realizes he can't provide all of the things Adele needs.

Adele is a passionate woman who loves to dance and teaches both Henry and Frank separately to dance. As thanks for sheltering him, Frank fixes up Adele's house and performs assorted household chores. In return, she shows Frank how to dance. Frank teaches Henry to repair cars and play baseball. He also shows Adele and Henry how to bake a peach pie.

Adele and Frank fall in love and plan to escape to Canada with Henry. They begin packing the house and cleaning on Labor Day. Meanwhile, Henry develops a friendship with a mature, but manipulative girl named Eleanor (Brighid Fleming) and goes to see her one more time before they leave. She manipulates him into thinking Adele and Frank are going to abandon him and he accidentally reveals Frank's past. Adele assures Henry, she would never leave him. The morning they are going to leave, Henry takes a note to his father's house and leaves it in his mailbox.

While he is walking home, a policeman (James Van Der Beek) offers to drive him home, and Henry has no choice but to accept. The policeman is suspicious of the packed car and nearly empty house but eventually leaves. Adele goes to the bank to withdraw all her money, catching attention from the bank staff. While Adele is gone, her neighbor Evelyn comes over and is surprised to find Frank. Frank claims to be a handyman, but Evelyn is wary of him.

Henry's father finds the note and calls the house. Before Adele, Frank, and Henry can escape, they hear police sirens approaching. Frank ties Henry and Adele up, so that they won't be charged with harboring a fugitive. Frank kisses Adele and tells her that he would spend 20 years in prison just for 3 more days with her, then walks out and surrenders. Adele wants to help Frank in his case, however, the prosecutor warns her that if she does, Henry might be taken away from her. She writes letters to Frank, but he returns them all unopened.

Henry eventually moves in with his father. In the middle of his senior year in high school, his father takes him to dinner to tell him he hopes the last few years staying with him has made up a little for him leaving all those years ago. He goes on to tell Henry that his mother's extreme sadness over the loss of their baby girl is what made him leave. He just couldn't handle it and wanted to be happy. Henry moves back in with his mother the next day and starts baking pies.

Years later, Henry (Toby Maguire) has become the owner of a successful pie shop and featured in a magazine. He is contacted by Frank, who saw Henry and his shop in the magazine and has it hanging on his prison cell wall. He tells Henry he will be released soon and asks him whether or not he should see his mother again. Henry lets Frank know that his mother is still single and lives in the same house.

Frank gets released, returns to Adele and they embrace. The couple are shown arms around each other walking together down a country dirt road. Henry takes solace in the fact that he does not need to worry about his mother being alone.