Martin Sheen plays Tom, an American doctor who comes to France to collect the remains of his adult son who was killed in the Pyrenees in a storm while walking The Camino de Santiago - also known as 'The Way of Saint James'. Driven by his desire to understand his lost son, Tom decides to embark on the historical pilgrimage, leaving his California life behind. Armed only with his son's backpack and guidebook, he begins the 800km historical pilgrimage but soon discovers that he won't be alone on this journey - he meets other pilgrims from around the world, all broken and looking for greater meaning in their lives. From the hardship experienced along "The Way" an unlikely group of misfits are bonded and Tom begins to learn the difference between 'The life we live and the life we choose.