In 1950s Ireland, shy Eilis Lacey struggles with limited opportunities and an unfulfilling job. Her sister, Rose, arranges for her to immigrate to Brooklyn, where Father Flood secures her a job in a department store and housing in an Irish boarding house. Though supported, Eilis feels deeply homesick, prompting Father Flood to fund her night school tuition for accounting. Her life takes a turn when she meets Tony, a kind and loving Italian plumber, at an Irish dance. Their blossoming romance helps Eilis feel at home in Brooklyn. However, a sudden change pulls Eilis back to her Irish hometown, where she faces a heart-wrenching choice between her past life and her new one with Tony in Brooklyn—a dilemma complicated by her silence about Tony to those in Enniscorthy.