Dark Ride

Hardy “Hardly” Reed is a lost 23-year-old who spends his days smoking weed and working a dead-end job in the evening, where he plays a ghost at the Haunted Frontier theme park. That works for him, until he’s at a municipal building and sees a boy and a girl sitting on a bench outside an office. They appear to be about six or seven years old, and Hardly isn’t too stoned to recognize that they both have cigarette burns on their bodies. Although he tries to report it to Child Protection Services, he doesn’t have enough information to interest anyone. But he can’t forget the kids. He has few resources he can turn to for help, but a realtor gives him a couple tips for locating their family. He bumbles his way through his investigation, getting verbally attacked and physically assaulted. As he slowly changes his life, Hardly comes to a realization: He’s never been able to take care of himself, but now he might be the only one who can save two children.