- On the verge of a nervous breakdown, Maxwell meets a talking sloth in his dreams and becomes obsessed with saving the animal's habitat in his waking life by returning to his first passion of music.
- On the edge of a nervous breakdown, Maxwell (Richard Hollman) is shocked to find out from his family lawyer (Arian Moayed) that he's inherited a sloth sanctuary from his father. When a talking sloth (voiced by Jack McBrayer) then visits his dreams, Maxwell becomes obsessed with saving the animal's habitat in his waking life by returning to his first passion, music. In order to complete the task though, he must enlist the help of his lazy brother (Brian McCarthy) and self-involved sister (Ava Eisenson). Songs for a Sloth is a film about the struggle to be both the person we want to be and the person we feel responsible to be, and about coming to know that it's never too late to pursue one's dream in life. It's also about live video games, secret paintings, viral videos, social media influencing, paintball, fancy banquets, and drones.
- Maxwell Grant is his father's son. By design. As a teenager, his father pushed him to give up his love of songwriting in order to embrace a conventional life. Years later, after his father's death, Maxwell still feels compelled to fulfill his father's wishes, even when he learns that his father went broke in his last years working to preserve a habitat for a dying species of sloth found only in North America.
Determined to save this rare animal, Maxwell is visited by a talking version of one in a dream. And, emboldened by this vision, he enlists his brother, Barney, a slacker too old to be an endearing hipster, and his sister, Jenna, a vigorously independent social media influencer, to help raise enough money to keep the land preserve from being bought up by developers. And in an ironic twist, Maxwell uses the opportunity to return to songwriting in order to bring attention to the cause and fulfill his father's dream.
While the three siblings try to work together, they both find conflict as well as a renewed closeness, as they search for sponsors, make viral videos, choreograph dances, and shoot each other with paintballs. However, the entire project is threatened when Maxwell discovers a hidden trove of paintings made by their late father, exposing his hypocrisy. As Barney and Jenna back away from the project, Maxwell doubles down, convinced that the only way to make the money they need in time is to livestream a fundraising banquet in their backyard.
Songs for a Sloth is a story about negotiating between the person you want to be and the person you feel obligated to be. It explores the idea that getting to your passions slowly is better than not getting to them at all.
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