A.J. Manglehorn is a former convict and retired criminal. Now he lives in a small town in Texas and he works as a locksmith, spending his days working, taking care of his cat and lamenting a long lost love. He keeps a strange relationship with his son and tried at all cost to change his life. After trying, without success, to turn his situation around, he will need to deal with the traumas that haunt him. The help of a new friend may be crucial for Manglehorn to find the solution to his problems.