In a story fueled by rhythm and blues, a young boy's life is shaped by love and the stories of a cast of characters in the boarding house where he lives in 1960s Lackawanna, New York.

S. Epatha Merkerson
as Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby

Marcus Carl Franklin
as Ruben Santiago Jr.

Yasiin Bey
as The Bandleader

Carmen Ejogo
as Alean

Louis Gossett Jr.
as Ol'lem Taylor

Macy Gray
as Pauline

Terrence Howard
as Bill Crosby

Ernie Hudson
as Dick Barrymore

Rosie Perez
as Bertha

Liev Schreiber
as Ulysses Ford