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The annual summer guest arrives
Elio is the seventeen year old son of a college professor. His family spends summers living in their villa on the Italian Riviera, together with a visiting academic fellow whom his parents select every year to live with them for 6 weeks and revise a manuscript of their own. This year the fellow is a 24- year old schollar named Oliver. When Oliver steps out of the cab Elio is at once mezmerized and facinated by Oliver and his ways. -
Elio gives Oliver a tour
When Oliver first arrives, Elio gives him a tour of the house, the surrounding grounds, and the nearby town, "B." Soon after Oliver’s arrival, Elio notices the pale, soft underside of his hands, feet, and forearms, and he contemplates the beginning of his attraction towards Oliver. -
Relaxing in "heaven"
"Heaven" is what Oliver calls the pool in-between the peach trees. Oliver and Elio spends a few hours here almost every day.The two converse on music, literature, and philosophy. Oliver finds the range of Elio’s knowledge on these subjects impressive, considering how young he is. Doubtful that Oliver reciprocates his feelings, conceals them by affecting silence and indifference. -
Volleyball with friends
Oliver and Elio is playing volleyball with friends. Oliver touches Elio's shoulder and notices that his back is very tense. He starts massaging his back and Elio flinches and does not know how to act. Olivers touch was all he ever wanted, but now that he had it he was frightened. This we lates find out that is a defining moment in the two's love story, as Oliver thought that Elio didn't like him. -
Oliver starts seeing Elio's neighbor
One morning, Chiara, one of Elio's neighbors, arrives to meet Oliver and convinces him to join her on the beach. Over the course of the coming week, they begin spending more time together on boat rides, at the beach, and in B. Elio can tell that Chiara is smitten; he dreads both losing Oliver to her, and he dreads losing her too Oliver. Later Oliver admits not being interested in Chiara to Elio. -
Elio admits everything to Oliver
Oliver needs to go to "B" the nearby town and askes Elio to come with him. There they smoke cigarette at the plaza while talking. Oliver asks him if there’s anything he doesn’t know, and Elio alludes to his romantic attraction and frustration. Elio regrets speaking, but he is relieved that the secrecy and shame is gone. Oliver tells him they shouldn’t speak of such things -
Oliver and Elio share their first kiss
Elio proposes Oliver follow him to a secluded spot and Oliver accepts. They bike to the edge of a cliff, to a berm where Monet came to paint. Elio explains that this is his private spot, where he comes to read and be alone. Oliver hints at his own affection for Elio but affirms that it would be wrong to pursue such feelings. The two kiss, but Oliver reaffirms afterwards that they shouldn’t do anything: he knows himself and he wouldn’t want to do anything he would feel ashamed of. -
Elio goes out with Marzia
Silence and avoidance characterize the days after their encounter. Elio pines away in his desire for Oliver while hiding his true feelings.To appease them and get his mind off Oliver, he calls Marzia and asks her on a date to watch a movie in B. That night, the two kiss in town and later have sex on a beach. -
Oliver asks Elio to "call me by your name"
Elio can’t bear to harbor his desire for Oliver anymore, and after his night with Marzia, he feels committed to slipping a note under Oliver's door asking him to talk. Oliver responds by returning his note with a message written under his, telling him to "grow up" and meet him at midnight. Oliver spends the day in anticipation. That night, Elio meets Oliver in his room; while they make love for the first time, Oliver asks Elio to call him (Oliver) by his name (Elio). -
The days after
After their night together, Elio feels confused and conflicted about the future of his relationship with Oliver but discovers that while Oliver feels similarly confused, he reciprocates his feelings of affection. Oliver begins expressing his love for Elio openly and confesses that he had been hiding his attraction for him from the beginning because he was shy. And the two enjoy the rest of the time Oliver has left together. -
Olivers fellowship come to an end
As Oliver's fellowship comes to an end, he decides to spend his last three days in Italy in Rome, and Elio’s father proposes to Elio that he go along with Oliver. Neither of Elio's parents seem to be aware of Oliver and Elio's relationship. -
The book release party
Elio and Oliver arrive in Rome by train. They spend the night at a book realese party. The party is at a bookstore with friends and colleagues of Oliver’s. After much flirtatious banter with several of the partygoers, Elio and Oliver travel with the group to a restaurant for dinner, where the poets entertain them with stories with topics similar to Elio´s experiences with love. -
Oliver and Elio´s night out at the plaza
After the book release party they go out for dinner. After dinner, the party goes for coffee and ends up at a bar drinking martinis, where an inebriated Elio entertains them on a piano. Feeling sick, he excuses himself from the bar. Oliver follows, and Elio vomits in a plaza. After washing his mouth in a fountain and feeling better, Oliver kisses Elio passionately against a wall. They end the night listening to drunken revelers on the street singing songs. -
Elio returns home to his family
Elio returns from Rome by train, by himself. Elio’s family members are sad about Oliver’s absence. Elio tries to return to his usual routine of summer pastimes, but feels pain whenever he remembers Oliver. At dinner, Oliver calls to confirm that he arrived safely in the US. Elio confesses to Oliver that he doesn’t want to lose him, and they agree to write and call. Elio's father tells him that he knows about their relationship: he tells him that what he had with Oliver was special and rare. -
Oliver comes to visit the following Christmas
Oliver visits for Christmas and announces that he might be getting married in the spring. Elio is dumbfounded but tries to be happy for Oliver. Oliver still has feelings for Elio and kisses him once, but he decides against doing anything further. That week, Oliver helps the family select the next year’s fellow. Elio reflects on the past fellows and on the first time he saw Oliver’s passport picture attached to his application, wondering if he felt anything back then. -
Elio visits Oliver at the college he is teaching at
Approximately 15 years after their summer together in Italy, Elio visits one of Olivers lectures in a New England college. Oliver is overjoyed to see Elio again, and they continue to talk in his office.Oliver invites Elio to dinner with his family, but Elio declines, fearing that he might become emotional if he were to do that. Instead, they go to a hotel bar. It becomes clear that their love for one another is still alive. They recall their favorite memories together during their trip to Rome. -
Elio father passes away, and Oliver comes to visit
Elio narrates the final scene in a time after his father’s death, twenty years after the events of his summer with Oliver. Oliver visits Elio’s villa on the Italian Riviera once more for an overnight. Elio shows Oliver around the house and points out what he considers to be his father’s "ghost spot", where his old breakfast table used to be, where he feels his memory most strongly. Oliver asks if he has a ghost spot; Elio thinks to himself that the entire villa will always be his ghost spot.
