Spring 1921: John Sawyers, having worked the lumber mills and coal mines of Harlan County, KY, most of his life, saw an opportunity to get his family out of the hollers and out of poverty when prohibition became law nationally and started a bootlegging operation with his family last year. Yet, the Sawyers family soon learns the cost of continuing business, refusing to return to a life of poverty when rival gangs and law enforcement discover their operation. Fighting to keep everything they've built from collapsing with their lives at risk causes loyalty with family and friends to be tested, boundaries crossed, and blood spilled.