Nathan Carman, a young man who, after a fishing trip with his mother Linda off the coast of New England, survives a week on a life raft while she is lost at sea. The sensational incident renews interest in the unsolved murder of Carmans wealthy grandfather years earlier, spurring a media frenzy, a war over a vast family fortune, multiple investigations and ultimately federal charges against Carman for murder on the high seas. With unprecedented access to family, friends and investigators, the film is a nautical thriller that explores intimate human mysteries about family, greed, perception, mental health and the unpredictable mind of an enigmatic young man.