Illegitimate Elvis Valderez (Garcia Bernal) heads to Corpus Christi to meet his dad, David Sandow (Hurt), who's now a Baptist preacher. Elvis insinuates himself into the family (with no one else knowing who he really is) and seduces his sheltered 16-year-old half-sister, Malerie (James). When Sandow's son Paul (Dano) disappears, the preacher reaches out to Elvis. Only his wife, Twyla (Harring), suspects that the pleasant young man isn't what he seems at all. The sins of the father come back in a big way.