Rugged, reckless Stanley Sanders (late 30’s) gets off a bus with nothing but a guitar and a paper sack. It’s the height of the Great Depression in rural North Carolina and Stanley has been in prison the last five years, ruining his family’s hopes of being a big gospel singing group. He has returned to his brother’s home to load up his car and head to Nashville when a young preacher stops by the family’s filling station. The preacher’s little church is need of some serious reviving, and he recognizes the Sanders Family from their glory days. Despite Stanley and his family’s strong objections about performing together again, the enthusiastic minister talks them into coming to his church to sing.
Stanley and his family very nearly don’t make it to the church at all – they CANNOT stop fighting. The conflicts of a lifetime – both hilarious and heart-breaking – that have long simmered and have now come to a boil. And when they finally do start to sing – and glorious singing it is – a surprised congregation watches as the family comes apart before their eyes. SOTM is based on the hugely successful off-broadway play and adapted for the screen by its original creators into a feature film.