Thirteen-year-old Tara does whatever it takes to keep her beautiful, audacious, and addicted mother, Joan, from falling through the cracks. Fending off bill collectors, heating meals in the cast iron skillet, and tending to their ramshackle home, Tara steers them safely through Joan's drug and alcohol binges. Hyper-vigilant and taciturn, she has few friends, preferring solitary rambles through the fields and bayous. When a sinkhole forces her rural Louisiana town to evacuate, Tara finds herself homeless and her mother's impulsive personality unleashed. But Joan's raw charisma and plain speak quickly establish her as the public face of the catastrophe. The community rallies around her and social media demands justice. A class action lawyer grooms Joan to play the starring role in a carefully crafted PR campaign. Tara dares to imagine a better life, built upon the proceeds of the settlement the whole town will share, a life that might even include college. But as the spotlight intensifies, and the promise of a settlement looms, Joan's demons return with a vengeance. In a drug-fueled rage, she makes a tragic mistake and overnight falls from hero to pariah. Tara must decide whether to pull her mother from the brink as she's always done, or let her fall, severing ties with the only family she's ever known. Lifelike Creatures was inspired by a real-life industrial disaster in 2012, when a sinkhole devastated a small Louisiana town.

Thirteen-year-old Tara does whatever it takes to keep her beautiful, audacious, and addicted mother, Joan, from falling through the cracks. Fending off bill collectors, heating meals in the cast iron skillet, and tending to their ramshackle home, Tara steers them safely through Joan's drug and alcohol binges. Hyper-vigilant and taciturn, she has few friends, preferring solitary rambles through the fields and bayous. When a sinkhole forces her rural Louisiana town to evacuate, Tara finds herself homeless and her mother's impulsive personality unleashed. But Joan's raw charisma and plain speak quickly establish her as the public face of the catastrophe. The community rallies around her and social media demands justice. A class action lawyer grooms Joan to play the starring role in a carefully crafted PR campaign. Tara dares to imagine a better life, built upon the proceeds of the settlement the whole town will share, a life that might even include college. But as the spotlight intensifies, and the promise of a settlement looms, Joan's demons return with a vengeance. In a drug-fueled rage, she makes a tragic mistake and overnight falls from hero to pariah. Tara must decide whether to pull her mother from the brink as she's always done, or let her fall, severing ties with the only family she's ever known. Lifelike Creatures was inspired by a real-life industrial disaster in 2012, when a sinkhole devastated a small Louisiana town.