Sometime in the distant future, after the polar icecaps have melted, major flooding has devastated most major cities. Technology has advanced to the point where people depend for many tasks on robots with highly sophisticated artificial intelligence; including companion robots which replace friends, lovers or children. David is a companion robot programmed to be the loving son of Henry and Monica Swinton, whose own son, Martin, lies comatose and apparently brain dead in a nearby hospital. Just as the Swintons learn to adjust to David and his capacity to love eternally and unconditionally, Martin makes a miraculous recovery and returns home. Soon sibling rivalry makes David a hindrance to the family's unity and he is cast out of the family. Alone with his robotic teddy bear and unable to adjust to a world that has no use for his ability to love, David journeys out into the forests to find a way to become a real boy.