Wallace Avery (Colin Firth) es un hombre de mediana edad divorciado, cansado de su existencia, que decide fingir su propia muerte para asumir una nueva identidad y empezar de nuevo. En esa situación conocerá a una bella mujer, Michaela “Mike” Fitzgerald (Emily Blunt). Wallace Avery hates his job. His ex-wife and son hate him, and he's blown his one shot at living his dream. Not wanting to face all this, he stages his own death and buys himself a new identity as Arthur Newman. However, Arthur's road trip towards anew life is interrupted by the arrival of the beautiful but fragile Mike, who is also trying to leave her past behind. Drawn to one another, these two damaged souls begin to connect as they break into empty homes and take on the identities of the absent owners: elderly newlyweds, a high-roller and his Russian lady, among others. Through this process, Arthur and Mike discover that what they love most about each other are the identities they left at home, and their real journey, that of healing, begins.