Liam is a young, restless teen struggling to realize his dream in the gritty and dismal streets of Glasgow, where unemployment is rampant and little hope is available to the city's youth.
A rich and intriguing story unfolds as we follow Morvern's journey from a prosaic life on the remote Scottish coast to self-abandonment and re-invention in the sun drenched vistas of Spain.
The film is set in Scotland in 1954. Shiftless young drifter Joe Taylor works on a barge which operates from Glasgow, on the River Clyde, along the Forth and Clyde and Union Canals to Edinburgh.
Lizzie Morrison and nine-year-old deaf son Frankie frequently relocate to keep one step ahead of her abusive ex-husband and his family. They are accompanied by her opinionated, chain-smoking mother Nell.
Hallam Foe (Jamie Bell) is a teenage loner who lives on his father's (Ciarán Hinds) large estate near Peebles. His hobby is spying on people from his tree house.