Jolene

Fifteen-year-old Jolene escapes from foster care during the summer of 1998 by marrying the older, nerdy Mickey and moving to South Carolina to live with his Uncle Phil and Aunt Kay. The arrangement is tense from the start, and on the eve of Jolene's sixteenth birthday she confronts Mickey about his mother. He becomes emotional and their early encounter is awkward, highlighting the instability of Jolene's new life.

Jolene's relationship with Uncle Phil deepens after the awkward start, despite both of them being married. Phil promises to build a house for the two of them and asks Jolene to keep their affair hidden. The secretivity strains Jolene's loyalties and sets the stage for further upheaval in the household.

Kay catches Jolene and Phil in bed, and Kay responds with fury, kicking Jolene out of the house. The fallout destabilizes Jolene's life at home and intensifies tensions within the family. Jolene's sense of belonging in the household dissolves in an instant.

Following the confrontation with Kay and Phil, Jolene's lover Mickey drives away in distress and commits suicide by jumping off a bridge. His death marks a sudden, traumatic turning point for Jolene. The tragedy compounds Jolene's feelings of guilt and loss as she wanders further away from home.

Aunt Kay has Jolene placed in a juvenile mental institution. There Jolene meets Cindy, a closeted nurse whose infatuation with Jolene culminates in an affair. Jolene discovers she has a talent for drawing and is allowed crayons, which she uses to start a small business selling crayon portraits to other patients.

Jolene is called to testify against Uncle Phil, who is sentenced to eighteen months in prison for statutory rape. The verdict ends the affair's physical consequences but continues Jolene's emotional turmoil. Her testimony seals a crucial shift in Jolene's life away from the South Carolina home.

Cindy, a closeted nurse, helps Jolene escape from the mental hospital and hides her in her apartment. With money from Jolene's portraits, Jolene leaves South Carolina and boards a bus heading west. She begins a new, uncertain journey as she hitchhikes toward an unknown future.

Jolene arrives in Arizona and works as a waitress at an outdoor diner while the city life begins to shape her. She meets Coco Leger, an aspiring musician and tattoo artist, and a romance blossoms. Jolene soon becomes a tattoo artist at Coco's parlor and moves in with him after two weeks of dating.

Coco reveals he has a secret wife, Marin, and a son, leading to a confrontation at the parlor. Jolene destroys the parlor, dumps the cocaine on a table, and steals the drug money before calling 911 and fleeing the scene. The episode forces Jolene to leave another damaged relationship behind.

In Las Vegas Jolene becomes an erotic dancer and catches the eye of mobster Sal Fontaine, who invites her to move into his high-rise condo and live a life of luxury. She enjoys the access to wealth and art, but one night she falls asleep in the restaurant and returns to find Sal dead and the mob closing in. Jolene escapes and hitchhikes to Tulsa to flee the danger.

In Tulsa Jolene duels with Brad Benton, a controlling heir who pushes for marriage. On their wedding night Brad discovers her tattoos and rapes her, and after their baby is born his family digs into Jolene's past. He violently attacks her, damaging her vocal cords, and a domestic-violence lawyer refuses to take her case due to her reputation. Jolene is arrested for kidnapping after attempting to leave with her infant, Brad secures an annulment, and Jolene is left with supervised visits, choosing to gradually withdraw from her baby's life.

Jolene ends up in Los Angeles, working as a comic illustrator for a graphic novel company and integrating her life stories into her art. In her final narration she reveals dreams of becoming an actress and imagines a studio wanting to use her life. She envisions returning to Tulsa in a limousine with her son, and then walks out of the frame, leaving her past behind.