Angelo Madsen Minax returns to his rural Michigan hometown after his infant niece's death and the arrest of her killer, who is also his brother-in-law. Employing essay film techniques, vérité footage, staged scenes, and family home movies, Madsen explores a community grappling with opioid addiction, economic hardship, and intense religious beliefs. Through the process of filmmaking, he attempts to repair fractured family relationships and rethink the concept of justice. *North By Current* doesn't aim to solve a crime; instead, it presents a detailed look at a resilient family and offers a new perspective on incarceration, addiction, gender identity, and rural life, using empathy as a path toward a fairer world.