Boy, an 11-year-old child and devout Michael Jackson fan who lives on the east coast of New Zealand in 1984, gets a chance to know his absentee criminal father, who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years ago.

In 1984, 11-year-old Boy lives on a farm with his younger brother Rocky (who thinks he has magic powers), their gran, and a goat. Shortly after Gran leaves for a week, Boy's father Alamein appears out of the blue. Having imagined a heroic version of his father during his absence, Boy comes face-to-face with the real version: an incompetent hoodlum who has returned to find a bag of money he buried years before. This is where the goat enters.—Sundance Film Festival

In late 1984 in the small settlement of Raukokore on the North Island of New Zealand, 11-year-old Alamein Ranginui, called Boy by most who know him, is a Maori in the care of his paternal grandmother as his mother Joanie died 7 years ago in childbirth and his father Alamein has long been in jail for robbery. Boy and his Nan live with his 7-year-old brother Rocky and several of the boys' cousins. While Rocky has been made to believe that he has magic powers, Boy is prone to fantasy, often dreaming about a life with his father and the person with whom he is most obsessed: Michael Jackson. He also has a crush on a female classmate named Chardonnay. While Nan takes off for a week or so to attend a funeral in Wellington, she leaves Boy in charge of the house and the other children. During that time, they receive an unexpected visit from Alamein, now out of jail, and two of his friends, Juju and Chuppa. Because of his fantasies about his father, Boy welcomes the three into the house with open arms and plans to take Rocky with them when they go, as he believes that's what families do. Boy learns that they have come for "buried treasure"--in reality the money from the robbery; Alamein can't remember exactly where on the property he buried it--which only reinforces Boy's notion that he and Rocky and their dad can live a good life together. Only in spending time with his dad, especially as it relates to the treasure and money in general, will Boy learn if his dreams of being with his dad are worth it.—Huggo

In 1984, 11-year-old Boy lives with his grandmother, brother, and four cousins on a New Zealand farm. His mother is dead and his father, Alamein, is in jail.. Then Alamein escapes from jail and arrives at the farm, with two sidekicks, just when the grandmother is away for about a week. Boy is grateful for an opportunity to bond with his father, but all Alamein is there for is to find the stolen money he buried.—grantss