'Cowboys' tells eye-opening father-son story involving family, love, acceptance

HOLLYWOOD -- The new movie, "Cowboys," involves a recently separated couple and their different takes on how to raise their child.

That's because the child in question, called Joe, boldly says, "I'm in the wrong body, okay? I'm a boy." That revelation drives the film's main story.

In the film, a conflicted mother isn't about to let her trans son live as his authentic self. Her estranged husband disagrees with that and goes on the run with his child, with the law on their trail.

11-year old Sasha Knight plays the brave kid at the center of this drama.

"I begged my mom to be able to do on-camera auditions," Knight said. "Then she said I could do this one because the character was trans. And I wasn't, like, completely out as trans but I was sort of coming out. It was like a process of me coming out. I definitely thought, 'Oh my gosh, this character is so me!'"

In one moment, Joe says, "I've known my entire life. I'm sorry. It's not my fault."

Steve Zahn, who plays Joe's dad, says, "You have a choice to accept, everything's easy. You have a choice. Or the other, which is to complicate things, make everyone miserable."

For Jillian Bell, who plays Joe's mom, "There was something intention there that wasn't malicious, that there was something in there that she was trying to protect her kid from, you know, the world, from society, from outside harm," Bell said, "But what she ended up doing was hurting her kid more by not letting him be who he was."

"Cowboys" did well on the festival circuit. It's now available on demand.