In the summer of 1983, in the sun-drenched Italian countryside, 17-year-old Elio Perlman spends his days in his family's 17th-century villa, reading, playing classical music, and flirting with his friend Marzia. Elio's father, Professor Perlman, an eminent scholar specializing in Greco-Roman culture, invites an American graduate student, Oliver, to help with his academic paperwork and stay with them for six weeks. Initially, Elio resents Oliver's easy charm and the attention he gets from others, including Elio's own parents.

As days pass, the tension between Elio and Oliver gives way to a flirtatious and charged dynamic. Both highly intelligent and curious individuals, they begin to spend more time together, discussing literature, art, and their shared Jewish heritage. Their friendship deepens into an attraction that neither can resist despite the difference in their ages and the social mores of the time. They embark on a tentative and profound exploration of desire that will mark their lives forever, setting the stage for a summer that will alter their lives in ways they could not have anticipated.