In Tribes, Billy was born deaf, into a hearing family, and raised inside the fiercely idiosyncratic and unrepentantly politically incorrect cocoon of his parent’s house. He has adapted brilliantly to his family’s unconventional ways, but they’ve never bothered to return the favor. It’s not until he meets Sylvia, a young woman on the brink of deafness, that he finally understands what it means to be understood. Yes, Billy’s family can hear, but will they ever listen?