The film is a drama about a Scotch-Irish American Southern United States (Duvall) named Earl Pilcher, whose late mother makes a shocking revelation in a letter that is given to him after her death. She reveals that Earl's biological mother was a Black American maid named Willa Mae, who was raped by Earl's (white) father and that she died while giving birth to Earl. His adoptive mother's dying wish is that he go to Chicago to meet his half-brother, Raymond Murdock (Jones).