Grieving young Will Donnelly looks to protect his new best friend, a talking goose, from school Principal Congreve Maddox, who's fattening up the bird for a Christmas cook-off.

Rodeo cowboy Jack and ranch hand Ennis are hired as sheepherders in 1963 Wyoming. One night on Brokeback Mountain, they spark a physical relationship. Though Ennis marries his longtime sweetheart and Jack marries a fellow rodeo rider, they keep up their tortured, sporadic love affair for 20 years.