The Time Traveler's Wife (film) - Plot

Plot

In the early 1970s, Henry DeTamble is in a car accident with his mother that results in her death. Henry survives by inadvertently time traveling back two weeks. Moments later, Henry is helped by an older version of himself, who has also traveled back. Unable to control the timing or destinations of his traveling, Henry finds himself drawn to significant people, places, and events in his life but is incapable of changing events beyond the minor differences his presence creates.

In 1991, Henry meets Clare, who is overjoyed to see him although he is actually meeting her for the first time. Clare explains that she has known Henry for most of her life and that he is her best friend. They begin a relationship, which is challenged by Henry's disorder. His sporadic time traveling is further complicated by the fact that he is completely naked when he arrives at his destination, and from a young age he has learned how to pick locks and steal in order to acquire clothes and survive his travels. Among his getaways are many visits to young Clare; from present-day Clare's diary he gets a list of dates when he visited her, and gives those to young Clare so that she can be waiting for him with clothes. Falling in love, Henry and Clare eventually marry, though he actually time travels away before the ceremony and an older version of himself arrives in time to step in.

Henry's disappearances take their toll on his relationship with Clare. His disorder allows him to win the lottery by having the numbers in advance, but also makes having a child with Clare seemingly impossible, as Henry's genes cause their unborn fetuses to time travel. After numerous such miscarriages, Henry has a secret vasectomy to end their suffering. Clare soon gets pregnant one last time — by a visiting younger version of Henry — and is able to carry the baby full term. Henry travels forward in time before the child is born and meets their daughter Alba as a preteen; she tells him that she is a time traveler, too, but has increasing control over when and where she travels. She also tells Henry that he will die when she is five, a fact that Henry keeps from Clare upon his return to the present. Young Alba is visited sporadically by her preteen self, who ultimately tries to prepare the younger girl for Henry's death. A devastated Clare soon finds out what is to come. Later, Henry time travels and is shot by Clare's father, who is hunting and mistakes him for an elk; he returns in time to die in Clare's arms. A younger Henry later visits Alba and Clare, giving Clare hope that he will visit again, but he tells her not to spend her life waiting for him.