Sixteen-year-old Jude Keffy-Horn (Asa Butterfield) is living in Vermont with his adoptive mother Harriet (Julianne Nicholson) and adoptive sister Prudence (Nadia Alexander). In December 1987, Jude and his best friend, Teddy (Avan Jogia), spend their time doing drugs and dreaming about moving to New York City to escape their small home town. Jude’s permissive hippy father, Les (Ethan Hawke), lives in New York City where he grows and sells marijuana. Les' girlfriend Diane (Emily Mortimer) has a daughter Eliza (Hailee Steinfeld) who buses to Vermont for New Year's Eve.