Set in the 1950s, a transitional period between Depression-era Prohibition and the legalization of regional moonshine distilleries, a professional moonshiner, Pops, struggles to come to terms with his inevitable retirement. To produce his last run of illegal liquor, he drags his reluctant teenage grandson, Silas, deep within the lush scenery of Georgia's Coastal Empire, hoping he can ignite a passion for the art of brewing within his kin.​ Forsythia Dew is a story of a decaying tradition in the American South and the cross-generational struggle with cultural erosion as it gets passed down.