. . "It's the anxious eve of the millennium. The car is packed to capacity, and as midnight approaches, a family flees the city in a fit of panic, paranoid and conflicting emotions. The ensuing journey spans decades and offers a sharp-eyed perspective on a hardscrabble future as a boy jettisons his family and all other ties in order to survive." . . . . . . . "So this is life" . . . .