Memphis, 1972. After a second tour of duty in Vietnam, ex-Marine Mac Conway surprises his wife Joni by arriving home a day early, but the return is hardly joyous. Along with his friend and fellow Marine Arthur Solomon, Mac has been stigmatized by his involvement in a highly publicized Vietnam massacre; though both men were exonerated, notoriety has followed them home, and finding a good job proves impossible. When a shady figure called 'The Broker' shows up to offer Mac a cool $30G for a series of future contract killings, Mac angrily declines. But he soon learns that Arthur, who has a wife and two kids and loathes his new factory job, has agreed to a similar offer. After flaunting his newfound cash at a bar, Arthur urges Mac to be his partner on the first job: a hit on a low-life PI named Rickey Suggs. Mac refuses - but after losing his job as a mechanic, he changes his mind and joins Arthur on the hit, insisting he's in it for one time only.
Buddy, a subordinate of The Broker, convinces Mac to pay down a debt by backing him up at a cash-for-guns warehouse exchange. Her emotions already frayed by her husband's erratic behavior, Joni reaches the breaking point when she's questioned about the recent death of a co-worker by Memphis PD detectives Tommy Olsen and Verne Ratliff. Arthur's wife Ruth, who works as a waitress at a local diner, encounters a customer named Moses, who seems to have ulterior motives.
Concerned about Joni's safety after receiving a menacing call from Suggs, Mac turns to The Broker and his associate, Karl, for help. Meanwhile, Buddy convalesces from a nasty leg wound at his mother Naomi's home, while Moses, who moonlights as a musician at a local club, gets a new assignment from The Broker: keep a vigilant eye out on Mac.
With Suggs at large, Mac and Joni seek temporary refuge in a remote motel run by an affable owner, Harlow. When Mac tries to help him with his defective swimming pool pump, Mac learns that Harlow has a lot more troubles than a broken pool. Back in Memphis, Suggs pays an unsolicited visit to the newspaper where Joni works.
At Joni's urging, Mac reluctantly turns to his father Lloyd for help. The Broker resurfaces to take Mac on an unsettling road trip. An unspeakable act of racial violence rocks Memphis, hitting close to home for Ruth and her son, Marcus.
Mac gets a high-profile assignment from The Broker. Buddy's erratic behavior worries his mother Naomi. Joni contemplates a financial opportunity that could free Mac from the Broker's yolk. Moses, a.k.a. 'Felix,' gets to know Ruth's family better as a curfew is ordered in Memphis in the wake of racial unrest.
Logan Marshall-Green
Mac Conway
Jodi Balfour
Joni
Peter Mullan
The Broker
Nikki Amuka-Bird
Ruth
Damon Herriman
Buddy