In a school in a small town west of Ireland, Connell is a well-liked, good-looking, and athletic student. Marianne is a proud, intimidating, and unpopular loner who actively avoids her classmates and questions her teachers' authority. An attraction sparks between them when Connell comes to collect his mother Lorraine, who works at Marianne's house. A deep connection grows between the two teenagers – one they cannot stop but that they are determined to conceal from their peers.