Deidra & Laney Rob a Train

Life is tough for teen sisters Deidra (Ashleigh Murray) and Laney (Rachel Crow) in DEIDRA & LANEY ROB A TRAIN. On their best days, along with a little brother, they're barely making it in their little house by the railroad tracks, while their mom, Marigold (Danielle Nicolet) works at a dead-end job. Their mostly absentee, dimwitted dad, Chet (David Sullivan) always says he's "there when they need me, gone with they don't," which isn't even close to the truth. But, big sister Deidra's a dynamo of a student, at least when she makes it to school. She's even able to scratch out a few dollars by taking on her classmates' assignments. Rachel is a smart cookie, too, but deals with typical teen issues like insecurity and friendships (or lack thereof). When Marigold gets arrested on a dubious charge of "terrorism" after having a breakdown and smashing a TV in a parking lot, Deidra has to take responsibility for the family's day-to-day needs AND try to raise an outrageous sum for her mom's bail. It doesn't help that Children's Protective Services shows up and her dad is of no use at all. Then, there's those freight trains, rolling by the house night after night. And so, desperate to save the family, Deidra and Laney become train robbers. Armed simply with a few tools, a teddy bear (?), and a lot of nerve, the girls succeed on a grand scale, closing in on a sum they hope will literally bail them, and their mom, out. Unfortunately, a train "cop," the vapid and vaping Truman (Tim Blake Nelson) is soon on their trail, and, at the same time, Rachel gets inadvertently caught up in the Miss Teen Idaho competition, which almost puts her over the edge. It's a simmering cauldron of stories that all somehow to come to a boil before the climactic ending.