SPOILER ALERT: the following article contains massive spoilers, including the ending. If you have not yet seen the movie, proceed at your own risk, or better, come back to this article later!
Adam Raki (Hugh Dancy), an electronics engineer, has an autism disorder called Asperger syndrome. When a young woman named Beth (Rose Byrne) moves into his apartment building, he is quite taken with her. She does not quite know how to react to Adam’s unconventional overtures but decides to give him a chance nonetheless. But Beth’s parents are apprehensive about her new romance, which could end the young lovers’ relationship before it has a chance.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Adam Plot Summary and Synopsis
Adam Raki (Hugh Dancy) is a young man with Asperger syndrome living alone in Manhattan after his father’s recent death. He has a friend, Harlan Keyes (Frankie Faison), an old army friend of his father’s, who is always there for him.
Because of his condition, Adam has difficulty communicating and likes to escape into his love of space exploration. His fixation on detail, repetitive behaviors, and mind-blindness cost him his job at a toy manufacturing company and nearly got him arrested after he is mistaken for a pedophile.
He does not want to leave the apartment he and his father had been living in, but the loss of his job leaves him with an uncertain future, including the problem of continuing to pay the mortgage.
Although he likes to stick to his routine and avoid socializing, Adam is lonely and wishes things could be different.
Beth Buchwald (Rose Byrne), a school teacher and aspiring children’s book writer, moves into the apartment above his and they strike up an awkward friendship.
One night, Beth is shocked to find him trying to clean her apartment windows suspended from the roof of the building in a space suit. She takes a liking to Adam despite his oddities. Adam hopes for a relationship with Beth. Although his first attempts are uneasy, he eventually breaks out of his beloved routines enough to be able to date Beth.
When Adam asks Beth if she was aroused as he was during an outing to Central Park, she is taken aback. Adam admits his Asperger’s and explains his inability to interpret her emotions.
Surprised by his innocence, the next day she asks a co-worker about Asperger’s syndrome and is advised that Adam is not “dating material”. Nonetheless, she is drawn to him, and his eccentricities make him more attractive to her.
Adam’s innocence, honesty and unique ways endear him to her and she falls in love.
Things begin to go downhill when Beth’s father, Marty (Peter Gallagher), gets into legal trouble. In a naive effort to make small talk, Adam asks Marty about the details of his alleged crimes, which does not go over well with Beth. After Adam discovers that Beth and her father engineered an “accidental” meeting (in an effort to protect Adam’s feelings), Adam angrily accuses Beth of being a liar and she storms out.
Adam gets a call with a job offer in California working in satellite navigation. After Harlan counsels Adam that the world is full of liars and he simply needs to find the ones that are worthwhile for him.
He goes to Beth, apologizes for his behavior, and asks her to go to California with him. Marty objects to this, and he and Beth argue.
Beth asks Adam why he wants her to come with him. Not seeing the opportunity to express his feelings for Beth, Adam lists practical ways in which she helps him.
Beth concludes that Adam is not in love with her, and she tells Adam she cannot go with him.
Adam Ending
A year later, Adam is working at the observatory, where his keen interest in space telescopes and his eidetic memory have made him successful and fulfilled in his job. He has also seemingly learned to pick up on social cues and pushes himself to join social situations.
He receives a package from Beth containing her first published children’s book, inspired by Adam and Asperger’s. He reads the first page in which Beth has anthropomorphized raccoons, used to represent Adam and his family.
Adam looks deep in thought and, in a moment of realization, he understands why Beth wanted to anthropomorphize the raccoons. Even after a year apart, this moment of clarity seems to bring him closer to Beth and he smiles in happiness.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).