Father Dan (Young Mazino) is a young priest wrecked by the passing of his childhood friend, Paul. Now bereft with guilt and burdened by trauma from his own past, Dan sets off on a solitary pilgrimage out West. Along the way, he accidentally hits a coyote — only for it to become an unexpected companion on a journey filled with small towns, open country and encounters with strangers who push him to a life-changing reckoning. 

Mazino brings Dan to life with an unshakeable force and grace that sets the audience on a path lit by questions of faith and forgiveness. Every gaze he feeds the camera leaves the audience questioning exactly where this rich character study might turn next. Director Hannah Peterson returns to Tribeca following the premiere of 2023’s The Graduates with a novel adaptation that’s a touching look at the earnest depths our souls will plunge to in search of some light through an ocean of darkness.—Casey Baron