Strange Weather

Academy Award winner Holly Hunter gets behind the wheel in this engrossing story of a woman's quest for rectitude in the wake of harrowing loss. Steeped in a strong sense of place and peopled by convention-defying characters, Katherine Dieckmann's Strange Weather draws you into its sultry Southern milieu and takes you on a back-roads trek you won't soon forget.

Darcy Baylor (Hunter) is an academic administrator at a Mississippi college, but another round of budget cuts puts her job — like nearly everything in her life — in limbo. Her son Walker committed suicide seven years ago, and the only constants in Darcy's life since then have been her gardening and her best friend, Byrd (Carrie Coon). Shortly after her worrying workplace news, Darcy learns that Walker's old college pal Mark (Shane Jacobsen) is now the owner of a successful restaurant chain — a chain whose concept, down to the last detail, was stolen from Walker. Darcy immediately packs her bag, gets in her truck, picks up Byrd, and sets out for New Orleans to pay Mark a visit. She isn't sure what she's going to do when she meets him. "I just want to look him in the eye," says Darcy. "Then I'll decide. I was never one for planning."

Strange Weather is about the journey as much as the destination. Its circuitous route allows for surprise encounters and sudden detours. Surrounded by an outstanding supporting cast, Hunter gives a spunky, soulful performance. Every stop along the way takes Darcy closer to some new understanding of how to come to terms with the past — and eventually find her way back home.