Sarah is a police officer and the only woman in her precinct. After witnessing anti-Vietnam War protests turn into riots, speaking with homeless vets, witnessing heartbreaking crime, she questions her position as a police officer. She even stopped believing in the magic of Christmas. But part of Sarah still believes, and wants to believe. She thinks of the stories her brother told her as a kid, of a magical train called the Polar Express... Little does she know the train is very much real, and very much magical. Accompanying her neighbor's daughter, she will for the first time board the Polar Express, and discover the true meaning of Christmas.