In 1962, in rural New South Wales, a slim, socially awkward 15-year-old named Danny Noah Taylor forms a deep bond with Freya, a girl who has been adopted as a baby and becomes the subject of town gossip about her origins. The pair spend their days at a favorite hangout on the town’s edge, dabbling in telepathy and hypnosis as a way to feel connected in a world that often misunderstands them.
Danny harbors growing feelings for Freya, but she is drawn to Trevor Leishman Ben Mendelsohn, a charismatic high-school rugby star, a bit of a larrikin, and a petty criminal who also helps Danny cope with the school bullies. The three teens become inseparable, and they stumble upon an abandoned house rumored to be haunted. One night they explore it together; Trevor and Freya sleep in one room while Danny pretends to be asleep in another, a moment that cements the trio’s uneasy dynamic.
After the night at the house, Trevor steals a car for a joyride and is arrested, ending up in juvenile detention. While he’s away, Freya reveals to Danny that she is pregnant. Danny offers to marry her and claim the child as his, but Freya refuses, insisting that she does not want to marry anyone at that moment or be defined by a relationship.
Meanwhile, Danny uncovers a clue in a locket given to Freya by an elderly friend who has recently died. The inscription reads “SEA,” and Danny learns about a lone cemetery cross bearing the initials “Sara Elizabeth Amery.” This line of investigation leads him to the town’s past, where he discovers that Sara was Freya’s biological mother, well-known years ago for her sexual promiscuity and who died while attempting to give birth, alone, at the same abandoned house.
Trevor returns to town in a fever of trouble, breaking out of detention, stealing another car, and wounding a store clerk during an armed robbery. He reappears at the abandoned house to be with Freya and to learn of her pregnancy. The police close in, but Danny helps Trevor escape. The pursuit ends badly when Trevor’s car is run off the road; he dies the following day. Freya vanishes, later suffers a miscarriage and hypothermia, and Danny finds her at the deserted house and gets her to the hospital. He eventually reveals the truth about Freya’s mother to her, a revelation that confirms the social stigma surrounding her situation.
Facing that stigma, Freya decides to leave on a night train for the city. At the station, Danny gives her his life savings to support herself and promises that they will stay in touch. He then returns to their favorite hangout and carves the names of Freya, Trevor, and himself into a rock. In an adult narration, we learn that Danny never saw Freya again, leaving a lasting impression of a friendship marked by longing, loss, and an attempt to salvage something honest from a troubling chapter of their lives.
