Take Me With You

August Schroeder, a high school science teacher in recovery from alcohol addiction, is stranded at a mechanic's garage when his motor home breaks down at the start of his annual summer road trip. His destination, Yellowstone National Park, holds deep significance: His 19-year-old son, Phillip, was supposed to share the journey before he was killed in a car accident. August carries some of Phillip's ashes in an old iced-tea bottle, the same one Phillip left on the dining table moments before the fatal errand, and plans to scatter them at Yellowstone.

The mechanic, Wes, has two sons: Seth, 12, and Henry, about seven. Henry does not speak; a previous placement in a county group facility traumatized him into muteness. Wes reveals he must surrender to jail on Monday and has no family to take the boys. He proposes a free repair if August will take them for the summer. August resists, but Wes revises the offer: The repair is free regardless, no strings attached. On the day the work finishes, August sees Seth and Henry sitting against the garage wall in clean shirts with small suitcases beside them. Seth combs a stray lock of Henry's hair into place, and the quiet caretaking breaks August's resolve. He agrees to take them.

As they depart, August assures Seth he can always ask questions without fear of anger. Seth then falls silent for the rest of California, self-conscious about talking too much. In Nevada, August buys each boy a disposable camera; Henry's first picture is of Woody, August's terrier mix, sleeping in his lap. That evening, August attends an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting and shares his story: His sobriety date is November third, the day Phillip died. His then-wife was driving and had alcohol in her system, below the legal limit but enough, August believes, to have dulled her reflexes.

Conflict flares when Seth reaches into the glove compartment where the iced-tea bottle is stored. August slams the brakes and yells, then apologizes and explains the bottle's history. Seth reveals his father has been to jail four times, not twice as Wes claimed, and that the first three offenses were for drunk driving.

At Zion National Park, Seth is awestruck by the towering cliffs and declares he wants to learn rock climbing. They hike Angels Landing, August carrying Henry on his back when the boy tires. With Wes's phone permission, Seth makes the exposed final ascent accompanied by two young hikers, and his triumphant scream echoes across the canyon. Seth later attends an AA meeting and breaks down crying afterward, confessing he had hoped to find something to bring home that could fix his father. August gently tells him the only thing that might help is honestly telling Wes how the drinking affects his sons, but even that may not work.

August calls the county jail and learns the truth: Wes was sentenced to six months for a fourth offense of driving under the influence (DUI), not 90 days for bouncing checks as he claimed. Seth is devastated; Henry retreats into silence. August tells the boys he will take them to San Diego to live with him through the fall semester. Seth is elated; Henry cries with relief.

At Yellowstone, scattering Phillip's ashes becomes a series of collaborative rituals. Seth delivers a speech before August sprinkles ashes into their campfire, and August is overwhelmed by grief while both boys hold him. Seth quietly scatters ashes while watching bison graze; Henry wades into Yellowstone Lake and plunges his ash-filled hands beneath the surface, refusing to wash the residue from his palms. When Seth accidentally drops the entire bottle into the rapids above the Upper Yellowstone Falls, August consoles him: Phillip is now touring the park, going over both waterfalls, and would have loved going over Niagara Falls in a barrel.

At Bryce Canyon, Henry speaks for the first time, telling August that Seth and Woody are out for a walk. He begins pressing his forehead against August's back while they sleep. However, Wes secures early release through house arrest with an ankle monitor, and the boys must return home. August's AA sponsor, Harvey, reminds him that Wes is the boys' father and that August has no legal standing. On the Navajo Nation, Henry runs away into the dark desert with Woody while August and Seth attend a meeting. After a search by Navajo Nation police and a miles-long trek guided by the returning Woody, Henry is found safe.

Back at Wes's garage, Seth leads an intervention, telling his father that both his mother's abandonment and Wes's drinking sent the same message: The boys were not the most important thing in his life. Wes promises to limit himself to two or three drinks at home per night. August gives Seth his contact information and 50 dollars as emergency money before saying goodbye. Henry refuses to come out, believing that if he does not say goodbye, August will not leave, then chases the motor home at the last moment and leaps into August's arms. At home, August's ex-wife, Maggie, suggests reconciliation, but August realizes they are incompatible. Harvey advises August to stop making the boys his emotional lifeline. Over the following months, Seth calls on Skype in secret; Wes has forbidden contact. At Christmas, Seth reports that each of Wes's nightly drinks has become a 12-ounce water glass of straight liquor.

Eight years later, August is diagnosed with distal muscular dystrophy, a progressive condition causing leg weakness. Now using two canes, he tells Seth, a 20-year-old college student, that the motor home must be sold. Seth offers to buy it and announces he will come to San Diego to pick it up. Henry, now 15, calls that night and reveals that Wes told the boys not to keep in touch so they would not make August regret taking them. Their limited contact over eight years was not indifference but obedience.

The boys arrive in San Diego and reveal the trip is not just a vehicle pickup: They are taking August with them for the entire summer, handling all driving, cooking, and maintenance. At Joshua Tree and Zion, Seth climbs without ropes in a practice called free soloing, while August struggles to accept the danger. Tensions erupt when August has a near-panic attack watching helmet-camera footage of Seth's Moonlight Buttress climb at Zion. Henry mediates, telling August privately that his criticism hurts because Seth admires him deeply. August resolves to do better and invites Henry to live with him in San Diego after high school. Henry accepts.

When the motor home breaks down in Kansas, Henry calls Wes and reveals August is on the trip. Wes files a runaway report, and state police arrive to take Henry into custody. From the patrol car, Henry phones Wes and demands to be shown something worth respecting. Wes withdraws the report. At Niagara Falls, in the predawn mist, the group places Phillip's remaining ashes in a small wooden barrel and tosses it into the river. August watches it shoot over the edge of the American Falls, hang in the air for one suspended moment, then disappear into the mist.

At Yosemite, after Seth and a partner summit El Capitan's Nose route, August tells Seth for the first time that he is proud of his climbing. Seth casually mentions budgeting for gas next summer, and August realizes the boys intend to take him out every summer for the rest of his life. Seth says they would strap a wheelchair to the rig if necessary, because these summers are who August is. Henry reveals that the 50 dollars August gave them eight years ago was never spent; Seth passed it to Henry when he left for college, and Henry still carries the same bill.