Set in January and February 1968, Unopened Letters from Dead Men is the story of a father and his two sons struggling to cope with their lives a year after the family matriarch was killed in an accident. Al Jr., the eldest son, enlisted in the Army after his father blamed him for the accident. The youngest son, Billy, is the best player on the varsity basketball team, and he has struggled with maintaining his enthusiasm to play. Their father is struggling with his daily functioning, and everyone appears to notice but him. After a game in which Billy sacrifices his scoring for the team, his father attacks him, forcing Billy to seek out his brother for sanctuary. He finds his brother an alcoholic with his left hand amputated, and he resolves to bring the family together. But his optimism falters as he discovers it isn’t enough to change the family’s fractured structure.