Ren McCormack, an ordinary city kid, is in a dance club in Chicago, dancing off his stresses born of his long and arduous eight-hour work day. But this is his last visit; he tells his friends that due to financial pressures brought on by his father's abandonment, he and his mother Ethel are moving to a small town named Bomont, where his aunt and uncle have offered to give him shelter. Once there, Ren and Ethel attend church and get their first glimpse of Reverend Shaw Moore a conservative minister who is a big authority figure in the town. After a long sermon lambasting the evils of "rock and roll" music and its "endless chant of pornography", the Reverend's daughter, Ariel, runs off to a gas station to meet her boyfriend Chuck Cranston, who is, for lack of a better term, trailer trash, only wanting to get in Ariel's pants. While they embrace, the Reverend shows up and catches Chuck with his hands around his daughter, much to his chagrin.
The next day, Ren shows up for school and immediately becomes friends with Willard Hewitt, a slow-witted cowboy with a bad attitude and a strong loyalty to his mother. Ren tells Willard about the dancing he used to do in Chicago. Willard tries to stop him from dancing in the middle of the school, but Ren ignores him and puts on a show in front of the school principal, who angrily explains that dancing is illegal in the town of Bomont. Willard defends Ren, saying that he is new in town and does not know the rules. After the principal leaves, Rusty, who is madly in love with Willard, tells him how brave he is to have stood up the principal on Ren's behalf. Rusty and her friends then explains to a bemused Ren that dancing is illegal after Reverend Moore passed a law forbidding dancing after his son died in a car accident returning from a dance. They then warn him to lay low unless he wants to get into even more trouble than he already is. Purchase Footloose tickets and find out Ren’s outcome.
