Agnes is a literature professor at Fairport, a
liberal arts college in rural
Belfast, Maine. She lives alone in an isolated house with a gray cat named Olga. Her best friend, Lydie, visits from New York City and guesses that Agnes is sleeping with her neighbor Gavin after he stops by. Lydie shares that she is pregnant via
sperm donor with her spouse, Fran. Agnes and Lydie later have dinner with previous fellow graduate students at Fairport: Natasha, Logan, and Devin. Lydie expresses concern for Agnes' emotional wellbeing and indirectly asks her if she is suicidal. Some years earlier, Agnes and Lydie reside together at the same house and are part of a doctorate study group led by professor Preston Decker. Decker provides Agnes with effusive praise for her draft thesis and shows her his first edition copy of
Virginia Woolf's
To the Lighthouse. Soon after, Agnes and Decker meet for further notes on her thesis at Decker's home. She leaves in the middle of the night in a traumatized state. At home, she reveals to Lydie that Decker sexually assaulted her, and Lydie consoles her. The next day, they are informed that Decker has resigned from his position at the college. The college's disciplinary team inform Agnes that they can neither investigate nor punish Decker, as he is now no longer under the college's employ. Emotionally numb and traumatized from her experience, Agnes takes in a stray kitten. One night, she obtains lighter fluid from her neighbor Gavin. She contemplates setting Decker's office on fire, which Lydie offers to do herself, but she reconsiders. She admits that she does not want to press charges as Decker co-parents a child with his ex-wife. A year later, when she is called for
jury duty, Agnes admits that she is unsure if she can be
impartial due to her experience being assaulted. She admits that she did not want Decker to go to prison, believing that it would not do anything to make him a better person. She is dismissed from jury duty as a result. Three years after the assault, Agnes has begun a sexual relationship with Gavin. She is offered a full-time teaching position at Fairport, which she accepts proudly. She is given Decker's former office. While Agnes is teaching
Lolita to her students, she is visited by fellow graduate student Natasha. Natasha, jealous that Agnes was offered the full-time position over her, brusquely admits to Agnes that she had consensual sex with Decker while they were students. This triggers a panic attack whilst Agnes is driving, and she is later calmed by Pete, a sympathetic sandwich shop owner. Later, she invites Gavin to her house for sex and they tenderly share a bath together. Gavin expresses interest in a deeper commitment with Agnes, but she appears hesitant to reciprocate. Back in the present, Lydie gives birth to a daughter, Jane. Lydie and Fran visit Agnes' house. Agnes offers to look after the baby while Lydie and Fran visit a nearby lighthouse. Agnes softly talks to the baby, telling her that she should always feel free to confide in her. She offers condolences to the baby for having been brought into a world where bad things can happen, but expresses hope that she can have a good life. ==Cast==