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A college professor finds herself at a personal and professional crossroads when a star pupil levels an accusation against one of her colleagues and a dark secret from her own past threatens to come to light.

In 2019 at Yale University, among a circle of philosophy professors and students, Alma Imhoff - a successful PhD candidate returning after a period of medical treatment - hosts a social dinner alongside her husband, the psychiatrist Frederik. In the end, her friend (and former lover) Hank leaves the party with their student, Maggie. The next day, Maggie confides in Alma that Hank sexually assaulted her. However, Hank denies the accusation, claiming it is false and driven only by resentment over a fraudulent exam. Torn between these two accounts, Alma must decide whom to believe.

In the opening we see Alma Imhoff (Julia Roberts) go through her day as a philosophy professor at Yale University while a clock ticks on the soundtrack. In the evening, Alma and her therapist husband Frederik (Michael Stuhlbarg) host a dinner party. Alma apparently recently returned to her post after taking leave, possibly due to a health condition. Attending the dinner are Alma's colleague and friend, Assistant Professor Hank Gibson (Andrew Garfield) and her top PhD student Maggie Resnick (Ayo Edebiri). Alma and Hank are both up for tenure at the university. The group discusses generational differences, the position of women in academia and the objectionable private lives of famous thinkers. While looking for toilet paper in the bathroom, Maggie finds a mysterious envelope in the cupboard and takes a newspaper clipping from it. Frederik privately tells Alma his opinion of Hank and Maggie being unremarkable, and that Alma is only drawn to them because they admire her greatly. Alma witnesses a drunken Hank leaving with Maggie. The same night, Alma is seen collapsing with a severe pain spasm.

The next day, Maggie is absent from Alma's class. In the evening, Alma meets Hank in a bar while Frederik is at home cooking cassoulet for dinner. Alma returns home to find Maggie outside. Maggie tells Alma that Hank invited himself into her place and then sexually assaulted her. Maggie finds Alma unsupportive and leaves. Alma doesn't tell her husband what happened. The next day, Alma meets and speaks to Hank in an Indian restaurant. He denies the allegation and argues that Maggie is making it up because he accused her of plagiarizing her dissertation. Alma speaks to the dean (David Leiber). Both Hank and Maggie show up for a lecture at the university. There, Maggie asks Alma for her support and testimony. At home, Alma finds the newspaper cutting missing from her envelope and burns another memento, keeping the photo of a man.

Hank is fired and storms into Alma's classroom, angrily accusing her of not standing up for him to protect her own career. Alma follows Maggie outside and comforts her, inviting her to dinner that night. Over dinner, Frederik questions Maggie critically about her studies. Maggie mentions to Alma that a reporter approached her regarding the allegation, and Alma warns Maggie against pursuing the allegation. The following day, Alma goes out for a drink with her colleague, university psychiatrist Dr. Kim Sayers (Chloë Sevigny), who reveals that she has spoken to Maggie about the case.

Maggie goes public with her allegation in the Yale Daily News. She is supported by her transgender, non-binary partner, Alex (Lio Mehiel). Maggie also translates the German-language newspaper clipping, revealing that a teenage Alma accused her father's friend of raping her, but later withdrew the accusation. Alma works in her spare apartment at the wharf, but is unwell. Still suffering from bouts of abdominal pain, she visits Kim's office and forges a prescription for herself. She returns home to find her husband asleep, a porn site playing on his laptop. In the morning, he is happy that Alma slept next to him, but disappointed when she rejects his romantic advances. Alma meets with Maggie, who reveals she took the newspaper article and expresses concern for Alma. Alma, angry that Maggie violated her privacy, tells her to leave her alone.

A frustrated Alma reacts harshly in a philosophical discussion in her class. After a faculty meeting, the dean reveals that she has been caught falsifying the prescription, and her consideration for tenure is halted indefinitely. Alma confronts Maggie on campus, accusing her of plagiarism and criticizing her work ethic and privilege as a child of wealthy parents who donate to Yale, and of maintaining a fake relationship with Alex while actually having feelings for Alma. When Alma says no one believes Maggie's allegation against Hank, Maggie slaps her.

Alma retreats to her spare apartment and finds Hank sleeping there, using keys he borrowed from her in the past. Over a drink and a smoke, Hank says he still loves Alma. He is angered when he hears that Alma accused Maggie of plagiarism but didn't share it earlier when it might have helped him. While Hank acknowledges he has flirted with students, he again vehemently denies raping Maggie and says he only crossed the professional boundary when he and Alma had an affair. They share a kiss, and he tries to initiate sex, but Alma tells him no. He becomes insistent and she has to forcibly push him away.

Alma returns to campus the following day, not realizing Rolling Stone has published an article with Maggie heavily criticizing how she and Yale have handled her coming forward about the abuse. The article refers to Alma as a "misguided mentor." Alma is confronted by Alex and a group of other student protesters and collapses. She has multiple perforated ulcers. In the hospital, Alma tells Frederik about what happened when she was a teenager: She was in love with her father's friend and started a sexual relationship with him at 15 years old, and when he ended it to be with a woman his age, Alma accused him of abuse. Although she retracted the allegation, it led to him committing suicide. Frederik tries to convince her that the man was responsible for what happened because Alma was so young.

Five years later, in early 2025, Alma is a dean, still married to Frederik. She reunites with Maggie, who has moved on and is happy with her life, and Alma claims that she is as well. Alma wrote an article about her rape claim which helped to restore her career, and Maggie thinks it may have been a cynical move to get what she wanted, but admits it doesn't matter anymore. Alma apologizes to Maggie for hurting her. Maggie is critical of Alma, but congratulates her. Maggie leaves and Alma pays for her glass of wine.