Gloria is a fourteen-year-old Mexican immigrant girl living in Odessa. Rebellious and frequently fighting with her conservative mother, she sneaks out to a Sonic drive-in on Valentine's Day. This decision leads to a brutal physical and sexual assault. She faces immense trauma while dealing with the town's harsh racism and indifference to her suffering.

Mary Rose is a pregnant mother in her twenties living on an isolated ranch abutting the Odessa oil fields. Feeling increasingly confined by her marriage to an emotionally distant husband, she instinctively takes in a battered teenage girl who appears on her doorstep. Her act of compassion puts her at odds with her fiercely prejudiced community and her own spouse.

Corrine is a retired English teacher and a recent widow in her early sixties. Her husband of more than thirty years recently died, leaving her to process immense loneliness and a difficult adjustment to life alone. She self-medicates with bourbon while observing the shifting dynamics of her Larkspur Lane neighborhood.

Debra Ann, known as D.A., is an eleven-year-old girl attempting to process her mother's sudden disappearance. Left with her father and imaginary friends, she copes with her loneliness by turning her attention outward. She decides to make a homeless veteran her personal project, bringing him food and supplies.

Dale is an oil field hand originally from Arkansas, the son of a preacher. He is heavily protected by Odessa's white, male-dominated community after violently assaulting a young Mexican girl. He relies on his privilege and the town's xenophobia to shield him from legal and social consequences.

Jesse is a young, homeless Vietnam veteran who travels to Odessa looking for work in the oil fields. Left partially deaf from his military service, he loses his job and his truck, ending up living in a drainpipe. He forms an unlikely bond with a neighborhood girl who brings him food and company.

Ginny is D.A.'s mother who abruptly abandons her family the day after Valentine's Day. Married young after an unexpected high school pregnancy, she sacrifices her dreams of studying art for domestic life until the feeling of confinement drives her to flee in search of beauty.

Victor is Gloria's uncle and a fellow Vietnam veteran. World-weary but wise, he steps in to protect his niece from the hostile environment of Odessa. He secures a hotel room far outside of town to keep her safe from retaliation before the trial.

Suzanne is a hyper-organized housewife and mother approaching forty. She sells Avon and Tupperware with intense dedication to fund her daughter's college education. She embraces traditional domestic roles as a strategy for survival, constantly advising her daughter to be tough.

Karla is a seventeen-year-old single mother who works as a waitress. She endures crude behavior and misogyny from the oil field workers in exchange for the tips she needs to support her infant daughter. She dreams of saving enough money to buy a car and escape West Texas.

Robert operates the ranch where he and Mary Rose live. He functions with traditional expectations of his wife and expresses intense frustration when Mary Rose's protective actions draw unwanted attention and threats to their family.

Aimee is the nine-year-old daughter of Mary Rose and Robert Whitehead. She watches her mother navigate the hostile fallout of sheltering an assault survivor, processing the adult turmoil around her.

Potter is Corrine's late husband. Following a terminal cancer diagnosis, he abruptly ended his own life while staging it as a hunting accident to preserve his insurance. His unilateral decision leaves his wife struggling with grief and unresolved anger.

Alma is Gloria's mother, a conservative Christian who works cleaning administrative offices in downtown Odessa. Her strict rules clash constantly with her daughter's rebellious streak, pushing Gloria to seek independence.

Jim is Debra Ann's father. Following his wife Ginny's unexpected abandonment of their family, he attempts to keep the household together while restricting his daughter's unsupervised bike rides around town.

Tina is a woman from Louisiana staying temporarily at a hotel outside Odessa with her children while her husband works in the oil fields. She strikes up a brief conversation with a traumatized Gloria, offering a rare moment of compassion.