Lessons In Chemistry – Book of Calvin

In 1930, a young Calvin Evans (Caden Dragomer) resides at the St. Luke’s Boys Home. As expected, Calvin is a bright student fascinated by chemistry…but not falling in line with the values and rules at school. Yet what would Calvin love most? To have a family adopt him.

Eventually, Calvin finds his footing brewing bootleg liquor in the school’s basement for a corrupt Cardinal (Adam O’Byrne). Naturally, Calvin thrives in the scientific environment and brings in major profits to the school. One day, an affluent gentleman named Wilson (Beau Bridges) arrives to St. Luke’s. When the Cardinal pulls Calvin from class, Calvin believes that he is going to be adopted by that man. Instead, the Cardinal tells him that he is broken and that he is only protecting him from being broken further.

By 1948, Calvin (Lewis Pullman) is a budding chemist at Hastings. But his time at St. Luke’s certainly took his toll, making him a recluse that requests a lab of his own to have the quiet and space he needs from his fellow chemists. The request is granted and Calvin is then sent to Boston for a speaking engagement at a college up there. Coincidentally, a young Curtis Wakely (Patrick Walker) is in the audience and starts up a correspondence with him. Their friendship blooms through letters, as does their debate about religion versus science. Fortunately during this time, Wakely is not the only friend that Calvin makes.

Bringing over a pie to welcome the new neighbor, Harriet (Aja Naomi King) and Charlie (Paul James) Sloane are surprised to find that Calvin has moved into their neighborhood and has an appreciation for Charlie Parker. Calvin befriends them and after finding out Harriet’s profession, enlists her help in issuing cease-and-desist letters to people writing and harassing him. Calvin later goes to return the pie plate and finds the Sloanes being the loving couple he wishes he could find. In his latest letter, Wakely reminds Calvin not to give up on love. However, Calvin finds it difficult to find someone to connect with. In Calvin’s next letter, he helps Wakely in finding a new treatment for his ailing father (Myles Cranford).

By Calvin’s next letter, he tells Wakely about meeting Elizabeth (Brie Larson) and finally understanding the “why” in his life. As Wakely shares about his father Clarence starting treatment, Calvin is picking out an engagement ring to propose and asks Elizabeth to move in with him. Upon moving in, Elizabeth notices Great Expectations by Charles Dickens open on Calvin’s dining room table. By the next letter, Calvin asks Wakely about proposing. In Massachusetts, Wakely is reading the letter by his father’s bedside…who has made a recovery from the Calvin’s suggestion of medical treatment.

But all good things come to an head when Calvin receives letters at Hastings from Avery Parker…one of the individuals to be sent a cease-and-desist letter. After Calvin berates the mail clerk (Avery Bilz), Elizabeth heads home to give Calvin space. Later, Calvin and Elizabeth have a vulnerable conversation about Calvin’s past.

On Calvin’s fateful final day, he pens one final letter to Wakely about how happy he is to have found someone who understands him before taking Six-Thirty out for a walk. As Wakely reads that last letter and pens a new one, the flashback to Calvin’s death shows an empty laboratory and his mail now being stamped with “Return To Sender”….which includes Wakely’s letter.

In present day, Wakely arrives at the Zott residence with his letters from Calvin. As Mad (Alice Halsey) takes the letters, Elizabeth and Wakely talk. In getting to know one another better, Wakely notes how perform Calvin and Elizabeth were for each other. Using their lead, Mad and Elizabeth head to St. Luke’s for answers. However, the same Cardinal from Calvin’s childhood is still there and does not provide answers. Instead, he lies and claims that Calvin’s records may have been lost in a fire.

Unsatisfied with the answer, Mad storms off to the library in St. Luke’s. There, Mad and Elizabeth look through the books for proof until Mad sees Calvin’s name on a library card for Great Expectations. As Elizabeth takes the book, she notes the Remsen Foundation stamp in the book.

At the Remsen Foundation, Wilson is seen walking out of his office. He is saying goodbye to his secretary for the night and leaves. But on a shelf in the office, a framed print of Calvin’s cover of “Scientific American” sits front and center.