After tragically losing her parents to the opioid epidemic, Jolene Harper, a young woman in her twenties living in rural Harlan County, Kentucky, takes a grueling job as a coal miner to single-handedly support and provide for her two younger sisters, Emmy and Lara. As she navigates the hyper-masculine and conservative mining environment, Jolene must also cope with the social pressures of her secret relationship with a local woman, Kylie Mitchell—a romance that ultimately forces her to choose between her deep familial responsibilities and her own desire for freedom.