When the four Curran children lost their father, twelve-year old Tom, the eldest, did not cry. Instead, he made a secret vow that, someday, he would become an athlete in the "big leagues" for his Dad. At 37, cameraman Tom Curran journeys into his past in Alaska and Cape Cod to trace how he and his siblings have tried to live up to their late father's expectations. Curran reveals how his pursuit of success has masked his grief, and ultimately delayed his true coming of age.

Through this meditative portrait of loss in an Irish American family, ADRIFT reaches behind what psychologist Dr. William Pollack--project advisor and author of the best-seller Real Boys--calls the  "mask of masculinity" to shed light on fears and emotions usually suppressed by boys and men.