Stanley Jr. is a typical American kid growing up in Seattle, listening to hip-hop, playing video games and partying all night with his friends. After learning of his son's aimlessness, his father Stanley Sr., invites him to Old Crow, a tiny Gwich'in village 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle in the Canadian Yukon, to live with him for a while after 20 years being apart. What unfolds is a spirited document of the father-son relationship between the "Stanley 2 Times" as they adjust to each other, discover their shared history, and try to bridge a generation gap.

Despite many opposing themes, this soulful documentary embeds old culture with new technology: they can hunt for rabbits and fish through the ice as their ancestors did, but first they have to get there on a "skidoo" that constantly breaks down. In a landscape without chain stores and fast food, the younger learns other ways to get food, while his elder realizes the internet and satellite TV will inevitably bring the temptations of the outside world to his dry hometown. A first feature by Andrew Walton, Arctic Son reminds us that when the human spirit has a chance to shake itself out, it ultimately settles where it was meant to be.