In the working class atmosphere of 1950s Glasgow, a rootless young drifter named Joe finds work on a barge owned by the down-to-earth Les and his enigmatic wife Ella. One afternoon Joe and Les happen upon the corpse of a young woman floating in the water. Accident? Suicide? Murder? As the police investigate the case, it becomes evident that Joe knows much more about the drowned woman than he is letting on. Meanwhile, against the backdrop of the investigation, Joe and Ella embark on an intimate and passionate affair. The raw sexuality of their affair dredeges up guilt about past actions and present consequences and Joe is revealed to be a man on the run from his own conscience. A beautiful and faithful adaptation of the novel by the Scottish Beat writer Alexander Trocchi, Young Adam shows the gritty side of Scotland that has often been ignored in favour of cliches about bagpipes and rolling hills.