 Young, nerdy First Nations science genius/social misfit Fred, with his female science buddy, Donna, get a hold of a scientifically formulated, herb-based and largely untested love potion. The source of the magic elixir is Fred s long lost, ex-scientist-now- Traditional-healer, Uncle John. His  love potion  seems to work, as Fred finds himself  loved  by his dream babe Caroline and seems to be accepted by the  cool-to-be-cruel  crowd. However, soon enough the experiment backfires and Fred collapses. To save him, Donna has to extend herself in ways she was afraid to ever since she first met Fred. The situation also requires Dr. John to face his own dilemmas about love and relationships. Dr. John tells the story in a flashback, several months after Fred s experience with his  love potion . Dr. John is now living alone, away from everything and everybody. His solitude is disturbed by a request to help an old, depressed horse and a down-on-herself teenage girl. Both are victims of an abusive rancher who, after his wife left him, has taken out his own frustrations on the wrong people, and in the wrong ways. Dr. John has to decide whether to try the same  love potion  on the girl and the horse, knowing what it did to his nephew, and what it almost did to himself years ago when he tried it.