Growing up in the 1970s, young Augusten (Joseph Cross) lives a middle-class existence with an alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin) and a bipolar mother (Annette Bening), an unpublished poet with delusions of becoming famous. When his parents divorce, Augusten's mother sends him to live with her wildly unorthodox psychiatrist, Dr. Finch (Brian Cox) and his eccentric extended family.

As Augusten unwittingly becomes part of the family, he descends into a kind of surreal childhood hell. Yet, he will also find optimism among the horror, hilarity in the insanity and even love amid the dilapidated ruins as he never loses his spirit or his resilience. Ultimately, Augusten will survive through the most extraordinary of circumstances.

Based on the personal memoirs of Augusten Burroughs.