On February 12, 2008 in Oxnard, California, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head during first period. When Larry died two days later, his murder shocked the nation.

Was this a hate crime, one perpetrated by a budding neo-Nazi whose masculinity was threatened by an effeminate gay kid who might have had a crush on him? Or was there even more to it? Looking beyond all the copious news coverage of this tragic event, Valentine Road tells the story of two victims: the murdered and the murderer. With keen insight, the film connects the human wreckage of Larry's and Brandon's troubled lives — both physically abused, both from broken homes, and both searching for a sense of belonging.