In the summer of 1983, in the north of Italy, Elio Perlman, a 17-year-old American spends his days in his family's 17th century villa lazily transcribing music and flirting with his friend Marzia. One day Oliver, a 24-year-old graduate student working on his doctorate arrives as the annual summer intern tasked with helping Elio's father, an eminent professor specializing in Greco-Roman culture. Soon, Elio and Oliver discover a summer that will alter their lives forever