In Staten Island, Lisa works as a kindergarten teacher with her assistant Meghan. She is very
passionate about her job, always making sure her students have fun but also learn things at the
same time. All the kids love her dearly, yet Lisa can't help feeling dissatisfied with life. Once a
week, she attends a poetry class led by teacher Simon, but her writing is always dismissed as
boring or derivative. Her husband Grant never stops being supportive, always eager to read
her poems and encouraging her to write more. Even after all these years of marriage, Lisa
still loves him like the first day, but she can't help feeling frustrated with the lack of passion
in their lives. The couple has two teenage kids, Josh and Lainie, who Lisa tries to communicate
with to no avail. They ignore their parents most of the time, and when they do answer, they stick
to monosyllables. They also prefer to order food and eat with friends in the garden instead of
sitting at the table as a family. One afternoon, after Lisa's class is over, her student Jimmy is
pacing the room while waiting to be picked up. It is then that Lisa hears him say something amazing:
Jimmy recites a whole poem of his own invention, including complex concepts like beauty and God.
Amazed and shocked by such a talent coming at such a young age, Lisa wastes no time in writing
the poem down, and when babysitter Becca comes to pick Jimmy up, Lisa asks her a favor: she
should write down any poems Jimmy says at home, too. Later in the evening, Lisa enthusiastically
shares the poem with Grant, who agrees is very beautiful, but he's also a bit disturbed by a
kid speaking in such an adult way. The next day, Lisa reads the poem in class pretending it's hers,
and for the first time, she receives compliments from her classmates and even from Simon himself.
From then on, Lisa begins keeping an extra eye on Jimmy, eager to know what else such a bright
mind can come up with. One day, she overhears him saying a curse word in the playground,
so as punishment, she takes him inside for a timeout. Once in the classroom, Lisa tries
to get Jimmy to talk about his poem, wondering if the "Anna" that it mentions is his mother. However
Jimmy isn't interested in discussing poetry and says his mother is dead. Noticing Jimmy is more
interested in the objects around the room, Lisa allows him to wander around while she recites an
old poem and encourages him to find new sensations in everyday things, but Jimmy stays silent. After
class is over, Lisa leaves Jimmy with Meghan for a few moments so she can have a chat with Becca.
When Lisa explains that Jimmy went from energetic in the playground to quiet in the classroom,
Becca agrees, pointing out Jimmy does the same at home all the time because he's a weirdo. Lisa
doesn't like the use of that word but decides to ignore it for now in order to ask about the poems
instead. It turns out that Becca is the only one at home that knows Jimmy sometimes recites
poetry of his own because his family doesn't pay attention to him, his father is always busy
at work and his mother is away in Miami, which is why Jimmy considers her dead. The relative
that actually spends the most time with Jimmy is his uncle, who often comes by and reads to
his nephew. Glad to hear someone is supportive of the kid and clearly not approving of Becca, Lisa
ends their little meeting, but before leaving, Becca gives her another poem Jimmy wrote at home
yesterday. Later, Lisa reads Jimmy's latest poem in class, earning her more praise. Some students
are a bit frustrated though, because her poem doesn't fit the assignment they had been given;
yet Simon loves it so much that in order to defend her, he suddenly comes up with the excuse that his
assignments aren't supposed to be literal, merely prompts in case they need them. When Lisa returns
home, she's in such a good mood that she tries to connect with Lainie and comments on how involved
she used to be with her photography, especially since she was very talented with Grant's camera.
Sadly, Lainie has no interest in old-style cameras and is happy to take a few pictures with her phone
for her Instagram, which disappoints Lisa greatly because she doesn't see the artistic merit in
it. Afterward, Lisa tries to call Jimmy's dad to discuss his son's talent, but she's met with the
answering machine. This isn't the first time it happens, Lisa has been trying to contact him for
days now, yet the man never calls back. Sometime later, while the whole class is having their nap,
Lisa wakes Jimmy up on purpose and takes him to the teacher's bathroom. There,
Lisa manages to get Jimmy excited about the idea of getting the point of view of an adult. He feels
like a giant and enjoys snooping around, but soon he gets bored and requests to go back to his nap.
Lisa lets him go after making him promise he'll think more about seeing the world with different
eyes. At the end of the day, Lisa's efforts show results and Jimmy recites a new beautiful poem,
although it takes her by surprise: she doesn't manage to write down all of it and Jimmy refuses
to repeat it. Meghan is nearby as well, but she doesn't pay attention because she thought Jimmy
was singing a random song, irritating Lisa with her lack of appreciation for his amazing talent.
When Becca comes to pick Jimmy up, Lisa showers her with questions, wondering how many important
poetic moments they are missing and if it's Becca herself that tucks Jimmy in at night.
This constant questioning is beginning to weird Becca out, but when Jimmy comes out to meet her,
she still stays cooperative and asks him to let her know when he has a poem in mind so
she can help. Day by day, Lisa's obsession grows bigger and creepier. One afternoon, she manages to
arrange a meeting with Jimmy's uncle Sanjay, who works at the local newspaper. Lisa explains how
important it is to her to protect Jimmy's talent in a society determined to crush it, accidentally
ending with a rant about her own children who won't read and lack curiosity. She also complains
about Becca treating Jimmy like a baby and how she is a detriment to the boy's skills. Sanjay
promises to keep visiting Jimmy and reading together, but he thinks this is a conversation
Lisa should be having with the father, so he'll see what he can do to convince his brother to call
her back. Sometime later, since Jimmy's father still won't call her, Lisa crosses the line in
truly creepy behavior and takes Jimmy's phone from his bag. Once again, she wakes the boy up
in the middle of nap time to take him outside and show him how she saves her number on his phone;
that way whenever he thinks of a poem at home, he can call her and recite it to her. She also tells
him not to let Becca call him names like "little bunny" because it's belittling. At home, things
aren't getting any better either: Lisa and Grant are frustrated because Josh has decided to throw
all his studies and university acceptance letters into the trash and instead join the marine.
An argument ensues where Josh accuses Lisa of only caring about the achievements in her head,
leaving her in tears. Once Josh is gone, Grant tries to comfort his wife and distract
her by getting frisky with her right there in the living room. Lisa is into it, but only at first,
because she drops it all the second she hears her phone ring: it's Jimmy with another poem.
Disappointment takes over Grant when he notices he's being ignored and he just gets dressed again
to do something else with his time. The next day at school, Lisa praises Jimmy for his poem but
also for calling her, she also takes the chance to share one of her own poems. Jimmy doesn't comment
on it, but he doesn't look too impressed. When Lisa returns home later, she's shocked to find
her kids are throwing a pool party that includes pot. Furious, she approaches Lainie and makes a
scene as she confesses she wishes there was more curiosity and intellectualism in the house. This
angers Lainie in return, who calls her mother out for not appreciating the good grades she does get
and for pretending to be some high IQ intellectual just because she's taking a poetry class. Then,
Lainie leaves her alone, so Lisa retrieves a pack of cigarettes she keeps hidden in the garden and
while having a smoke, she calls Jimmy just to say hi. A few days later, Simon calls Lisa to
his office to offer more praise for her latest work and to invite her to read some of her
poems at a poetry reading event his favorite bar often organizes. Obviously, Lisa accepts before
sharing the same poem he read to Jimmy, but Simon isn't as enthusiastic about this one. He begins
talking about the visionary writing behind her other poems, which he doesn't know were stolen,
and thinking about those gets him so excited that he ends up getting frisky with Lisa right there on
the office floor. They have a nice time, but it's obvious that Simon is more attractive to her art
than to Lisa herself. Simon's reaction to her poem gives Lisa a lot to think about, and in the end,
she decides Jimmy should be the one to recite his own poems in public. When she shares the idea with
him, Jimmy accepts, and Lisa begins taking breaks from class to bring Jimmy to the school auditorium
so he can practice. In the evening, Lisa finally gets tired of waiting for a call and shows up
at the bar where Jimmy's father Nikhil works. Nikhil is happy to hear his little boy is smart,
but Lisa pushes for more, explaining his talent needs to be nurtured and that Becca treats him
like a dumb puppy. Nikhil understands Lisa's concern and wants to support his son, but he also
doesn't want him to become like Sanjay, a failed writer that now barely makes any money correcting
spelling mistakes for the newspaper. Lisa offers to babysit Jimmy for a few hours in the afternoon
instead of Becca, that way she can stimulate him with the right activities but he still can
keep up a normal life the rest of the time, and Nikhil accepts. However when Lisa brings up the
poetry reading on Thursday, Nikhil forbids them from going because Jimmy has baseball practice
with his friend that day, and keeping up the normal routine is more important. From then on,
Lisa begins babysitting Jimmy and uses the chance to take him to all kinds of interesting places
like museums. When Thursday comes, Lisa doesn't send Jimmy to baseball by lying and saying he
hasn't been feeling well. Instead, she dresses Jimmy up in an adorable little suit and takes
him to the poetry reading. Thanks to all the practice they did, Jimmy shines on the stage
and recites his poems without a hitch. When the public asks who wrote them, Lisa admits Jimmy did,
not caring that Simon is there. Someone also asks who the "Anna" in the poem is, and Jimmy explains
that she can be anyone you love; in his case, Anna is Meghan. Hearing her helper's name instead of
her own breaks Lisa's heart and she rushes to the bathroom to have a good cry. Worried about her,
Jimmy follows her, but Lisa just asks him to wait outside after expressing how proud she is
of him. Once she's taken a moment to put herself together, Lisa leaves the bathroom and panics
when she doesn't find Jimmy, but fortunately, he just happens to be sitting with Simon. Her relief
is sadly short-lived though, because as soon as he sees her, Simon informs her that she isn't allowed
in the class anymore and accuses her of leeching off a child. By the time they leave the bar,
it's so late that Lisa decides it's better to take an asleep Jimmy to her own house and let him sleep
on the couch. When she gets on her own bed, Grant wakes up and wonders if Lisa's ashamed of her own
children, because after she left earlier, Josh confessed she seemed disappointed in them. Lisa
swears that's not the case, but the hesitation is obvious. The next day at school, Lisa gets upset
as soon as she notices Jimmy hasn't come to class and won't answer the phone either. When a call
from his caller ID finally reaches her, it's actually Nikhil on the other end of the line,
yelling at Lisa for what she did and informing her Jimmy is getting transferred to another school.
Lisa returns to class pretending everything is fine, but only seconds pass before she breaks
down and cries in front of all her students. After work, Lisa goes home with a plan in mind.
Her obsession is so absurd that it stops her from giving up, but first, she must make amends with
her family. She acts extra sweet towards Grant and manages to convince her kids to stay for dinner so
they can have a proper meal all together. Lainie apologizes for snapping at her during the party,
and Josh tells her all about his progress with the marine meetings, glad to finally have some
support. The next morning, Lisa says goodbye to Grant with more affection than usual before
leaving the house with a suitcase in the car. Instead of going to work, she goes to Jimmy's
house and follows Nikhil's car to find out which school the poor boy has been transferred to. A
few hours later, when Jimmy's class is in the playground, Lisa approaches the back fence to
invite Jimmy to come swimming with her, knowing it's an activity he loves. Not only Jimmy accepts,
he also tells her he's missed her, which in Lisa's twisted mind means she's doing the right thing.
Lisa manages to kidnap Jimmy by teaching him how to unlock the door and together they travel to a
beach up north, although Lisa confesses their final destination is Canada. They spend the
afternoon having fun together in the water, and Jimmy is having such a good time that he even
gets inspired to create another poem. Afterward, they go to a hotel to spend the night. Once Jimmy
takes his shower, Lisa goes next, but she barely gets to wash before she hears a weird noise:
Jimmy has locked the bathroom door on purpose. Desperate not to lose yet, Lisa tries to bribe him
with promises of more fun and ice cream, but Jimmy ignores her and grabs the phone, although he's
having trouble using it. There's no getting out of this, so Lisa forces herself to accept defeat
and try to end things as smoothly as possible not to traumatize the poor kid. As she cries
her heart out, Lisa explains to Jimmy he must dial 911, although he has no trouble using the
word "kidnapped" on his own. Lisa also gives him the hotel name and room number before asking him
to tell the cops she isn't armed. Once the call is over, Lisa manages to convince Jimmy to let
her out so she can put on some clothes before the police arrive. While she brushes her hair, Jimmy
comes closer and holds her hand because even if she kidnaped him, he doesn't like seeing her sad.
It only takes the cops a few minutes to arrive and when they do, they pick up Jimmy to place
him in the safety of their car. Overwhelmed, Jimmy announces he has a new poem, but nobody listens.