James Franco plays the role of Jake Epping, an ordinary high school teacher, who is presented with a chance to change history. When a longtime friend (Chris Cooper) shows Jake how to travel back in time, he tasks Jake with a mission he has been trying in vain to complete: stopping the assassination of John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, and solving one of the biggest mysteries of the 20th century. Jake quickly learns that the past does not want to be changed, and that his attempts to divert the course of history can quickly turn dangerous.