A Minister Ratheneu is murdered in Germany by Nazi's. It's 1922.

Albert Einstein is having sex in his office with his secretary, Betty before his classes start. He tries to convince her to move in with him but she won't hear of it because he is married.

He gives his lecture on the idea of time. 

Flashback to the young Einstein being in class and getting yelled at by his professor for not paying attention. He was "thinking". He's fascinated with a light beam. The professor sees him and kicks him out of the class. Before he leaves, he solves the equation. The teacher is not happy.

Einstein's father comes out of the school and tells Einstein he has to apologize to the headmaster, but Einstein wants to study on his own.  Dad tells him he is moving to Italy with his mom and sister.  Einstein wants to go with, but dad says no. He's going to live with his cousins until school is finished.

Einstein is back in school. He's bored and thinking about other things. Then he leaves because he is feeling sick. He goes to the doctor's office. Everything is fine. He wants to leave Germany and wants the doctor to deem him medically unfit to finish school. His diagnosis is going to be a nervous breakdown.

Einstein goes to Italy. His father is surprised to see him. He tells his dad he wants to go to Zurich Polytechnic Institute. Dad is mad and wants him to go back to Germany.

Back in 1922, Einstein continues his lecture. A student comes in and announces that Rathenau is dead.

Einstein is at home and devastated about his death. Elsa knows about his affair with Betty. The phone is ringing. It's Mileva. He goes to answer the phone but it stops ringing.

Elsa doesn't want him to hide in his work. He wants him to grieve. They hug. 

Cops find the killers and come after them. One of the guys is killed. There's more gunfire. When the cops break in, he kills himself. 

The police visit Einstein to tell him the fringe group has him on a list for assassination. They think he should leave Germany.

Einstein doesn't want to leave and tells Elsa.  

Einstein is talking with his friend Fritz Haber about moving. He has Fritz read a letter that people wants him banned because of his theory of relatively.

Einstein is at Rathenau's funeral while another professor is at the university slamming Einstein and his theories.

People are getting a bit bent out of shape about new ideas.

At the funeral, people are introducing themselves to Einstein when Nazi supporters show up. Einstein refuses to leave.

Back to young Einstein. He's working on an exam and ignores every part except physics. he gets called to the office afterward, but only passed the science and math sections and failed everything else.

The Professor allows him to audit classes though he won't be an official student.  He's going to be allowed to come back and retake the exam after he takes some classes at a school in Switzerland.

He's going to be staying at Jost Winteler's house who loves that he's a bit of a rebel. They have lots of kids. Marie is fascinated by him and he is fascinated by her. 

At the school in Switzerland he's not yelled at for asking questions or thinking.

He gets a letter denouncing his German citizenship. Marie is his tutor and trying to teach him some language. He's thinking about time again and takes a bike ride to try to explain time.

They end up in a field and have sex. Interspersed is Albert playing the violin in church.

Back in 1932 Germany, Einstein is playing the violin in his apartment. There are Nazis outside his window spreading propaganda.

Elsa still wants to leave Germany because she's afraid of Hitler.  He goes to get tobacco as Nazis paste posters on windows. He sees a pile of Mein Kampf books on the counter. The storekeeper is embarrassed and makes an excuse, but Einstein calls him out.

He's in Italy with his parents and they think he's going to marry Marie and he has no interest. He argues with his father about a variety of things. They disagree about his future.

He goes back to Zurich Polytechnic and passes all his tests. Marie is upset he is leaving. he tries to assure her that he will write.

Back to 1932 Germany, Einstein comes across a Nazi rally.  They start beating up on a Jew. A young Nazi runs after him asking for his autograph. An older boy spits in his face.

He goes home and tells Elsa it's time to leave Germany.

They are planning on going to the United States and he's going to teach at Princeton.

Back to young Einstein. He's at Zurich Polytechnic looking for his class and he finds Mileva who is sitting in the classroom. They talk all things physics. He's impressed.

Back to older Einstein. He gets a call from the U.S. Embassy. The Ambassador Geist starts asking lots of questions. he needs to answer questions or will not be allowed to go to the U.S. Hoover has started a file on him.