Texan band The 13th Floor Elevators coined the term psychedelic rock and were responsible for some of the garage era's most precious nuggets. With his visionary lyrics, their charismatic singer Roky Erickson was poised to be a huge star, but as his fame grew, so did his notoriety, and his drug intake and public declarations about the benefits of marijuana and LSD bought him to the attention of the local police. Arrested for the possession of a single joint in 1969, Erickson pleaded insanity to avoid a prison term, and spent the next three and a half years in the State institute for the criminally insane, diagnosed as schizophrenic and subjected to electro-shock treatment. Though he would go on to release dark, influential albums up until the mid-90s, he never fully recovered. The film sees Roky, surrounded by televisions and hi-fi equipment, cloaking himself with sound, while being looked after by his doting, overprotective mother, whose well intentioned refusal to allow Roky prescribed medication and psychiatric advice is questioned by his younger brother Sumner, who takes his mother to court to challenge her guardianship.