Walter Vale (Jenkins) is a professor who has lost his passion for teaching.

Befriending a young Syrian couple, homeless thanks to a real estate scam, Walter reluctantly allows the couple to stay with him - in return for which Tarek, a musician, insists on teaching the aging academic to play the African drum.

The instrument's rhythms revitalize Walter's spirit and, as their friendship deepens, the differences in culture, age and temperament fall away.