Ever since his neighborhood movie theater closed, Scott Ryan has had one dream-reopen the theater and run it successfully, recreating the feeling of film community that he experienced when first came to Seattle. But that won't be easy, even after he buys the old theater many questions remain about if it can be run successfully.
And not everybody shares Scott's dream, certainly not his son Jackson. A junior at Truman High Jackson thinks his father's dream is old fashioned and impractical. He is particularity unhappy with having to work at the theater.
At the Magic Lantern Jackson meets Ana Perez, a bright and attractive high school junior who is there to interview Scott. Unbeknownst to Jackson, Ana is a dreamer, a part of her life that she keeps secret. Their paths cross again as the Magic Lantern stumbles through its first months of low attendance and programming mistakes. They have little in common, except for a mutual attraction. Then Jackson learns about Ana's dream, and he begins to wonder what it means to be such a dreamer, and he starts to look at his father's big dream differently.