The young Vin­cent has trou­ble fol­low­ing the rules and prefers wan­der­ing around through nature, alone or with his broth­er Theo. But all his par­ents see is a prob­lem­at­ic and dis­obe­di­ent child. So, even­tu­al­ly they send him away to board­ing school. Lone­ly and far away from home, he finds solace in the world of his own imag­i­na­tion, and he writes long, illus­trat­ed let­ters to Theo. Then, he becomes friends with Paul, one of the pop­u­lar boys at school, who also likes draw­ing. Paul is Vincent’s only friend, but their friend­ship is com­pli­cat­ed. Vin­cent finds a way to escape from board­ing school using his dream world and imag­i­na­tion. He runs all the way back home, where he finds Theo wait­ing for him.