Set in rural British Columbia in the mid-2000s, Stranger in Town follows Ruth, a young woman raised in a secluded FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints) compound. Deeply devoted to her faith and protective of her younger “sister-wife” Hannah, Ruth’s world shatters when she witnesses Hannah being forced into marriage with their shared husband, James. Desperate and betrayed, Ruth lashes out violently, killing James and fleeing the compound with stolen cash and health cards.

On the run, she stumbles through forests, highways, and small cities, reinventing herself while evading capture. Ruth adopts a new identity, “Cassandra,” and finds brief refuge in abandoned houses, shelters, and university lecture halls where she connects with literature and new friendships that awaken her hunger for independence. Haunted by her past and struggling to navigate the unfamiliar modern world, Ruth must confront questions of survival, identity, and freedom as she learns what it truly means to be a stranger—both to others and to herself.