In “The Valley of Light,” set in 1946 North Carolina, Noah Locke, a 28-year-old World War II veteran who earned the Purple Heart, returns to the States. His parents are dead. His only family is a brother, Travis, whom he visits in prison. Noah has no place to go. And so he ends up an itinerant fisherman.

During his travels, Noah meets another fisherman, the grizzled Hoke Moore (Robert Prosky), who tells him about the nearby Valley of Light, where “some awfully nice people live.” The lake also has the biggest bass that Hoke has ever seen. So Noah treks there.