Arvin Russell (Tom Holland) is celebrating his birthday with family and is given a gun as a present. It belonged to his father Willard (Bill Skarsgård), who brought it back from the war. We are told that the heart of this story is how people from two different points are connected together. We see glimpses of Arvin's father when he was young and a brief look at the new preacher (Robert Pattinson) in town.