Firecracker

Meek, reclusive and talented Jimmy is emotionally imprisoned by his abusive, alcoholic older brother David (Mike Patton) -- and fanatically religious mother Eleanor (Karen Black). With evil lurking in the shadows, the setting sun gives way to the blue of evening and Jimmy finds escape in the neon glow of a traveling sideshow carnival. Unlike its drab, depressing daytime reality, the carnival becomes a nightly glittering solitaire on the prairie, beckoning all around to its illusions and make-believe. With a guise of red satin and the lure of a heavenly voice, Sandra (also Karen Black), billed as an "oddity of nature," is the carnival's premier attraction. Yearning for a way out, Jimmy befriends Sandra, unaware that her imprisonment and degradation, at the hands of Frank (also Mike Patton), the carnival owner, mirror his own. Sandra, taken by his innocence, finds her own inner strength and suppressed dreams. When David disappears, the metaphorical white-picket fences collapse, leaving raw emotions exposed to the spark of truth.