In the small town of Prickly Pear, Texas, it's not easy being an artistic movie buff with a family full of testosterone-riddled cowboys. So it's not surprising that teenaged film aficionado Hoot Wilson finds refuge in his job at the Cactus Theater.

Inside the cool darkness of the Cactus, Hoot indulges his passion for classic cinema with the theater's owner Henry Lusk. As a Jewish man in a predominantly Christian town, Henry knows what it's like to be an outsider, and he and Hoot share a special kinship over their love of film-and their sense of alienation from their community.

Outside the theater, though, Hoot must contend with the chaos of his dysfunctional family and the uncertainty of being a teenager. So when he overhears a foreboding conversation between Henry and Prickly Pear's shadiest resident, Hoot fears for the future of the one place in which he finds solace.

With an endearing cast of characters and nostalgia for the golden age of cinema, Popcorn Boy is both the story of a young man who finds himself while watching others on the big screen and a tribute to the history of the uniquely American movie theater.