In The Visitor, Walter Vale, a widower of five years, lives an aimless life as a college economics professor in suburban Connecticut. When Walter reluctantly agrees to fill in for a colleague at a conference in New York City he discovers a young couple, Tarek and Zainab, who have been scammed into illegally renting his vacant flat. Walter agrees to let them stay until they find a place of their own and soon Walter and Tarek form a friendship of which the more guarded Zainab disapproves. However when an arbitrary interaction with the police lands Tarek, an undocumented New Yorker, in an ICE detention center Walter emerges as the only person able to visit Tarek. When Tarek's mother Mouna appears in search of her son, Walter's emotional commitment in Tarek's case is sealed. As the four people struggle to deal with the stark realities of the US immigration system and their own individual lives, their shared humanity is revealed in awkward, humorous and dramatic ways.