Alex Silver is a talented but angsty teen who dreams of becoming the next Jim Henson. Unfortunately, his life is no happy puppet show. His dad is overbearing, his school is oppressive, and even people in the neighborhood seem out to get him. But everything changes when Julius, a mysterious transfer student, enters his life.

An introvert, obsessed with celluloid film and analog photography, forms an unlikely friendship with a cynical coworker in a very old-fashioned analog sort of way.