A year ago, Phil (Luke Wilson) and Sarah (Olivia Wilde) lost their son Jessie (Casey Walker), who vanished from a gas station during a road trip. Phil, a police officer, copes by attending support group meetings, while Sarah, a schoolteacher, clings onto her conviction that Jessie is still alive. She engages in increasingly self-destructive behaviors and becomes obsessed with Adam Heywood (Ty Simpkins), a foster kid with Asperger's who goes to her school.
Meadowland contains examples of:
- 555: Both the home and work numbers listed on Adam's student file start with (555)555.
- Flipping the Bird: Phil intervenes in a domestic dispute, which involves a couple yelling insults at each other. At one point the boyfriend flips off the girlfriend.
- Foster Kid: Adam's foster parents assumed they would be getting a neurotypical child, and were not happy to find out about Adam's disability. His mother yells insults at him when he forgets his lunch, which is often. His father doesn't seem to pay much attention to him.
- The Kindnapper: Sarah steals Adam's father's car so she can pick him up from school, then decides on a whim to take him to the airport instead so they can visit a wildlife preserve in Africa, without the knowledge of his foster parents or anyone in her life. She decides to pick a different destination when she sees police officers questioning people on the way to the airport, and gives up entirely once she gets the news about Jessie's body.
- No Medication for Me: Early in the movie, Sarah flushes her lithium down the sink.
- Self-Harm: Sarah notices scars on the arm of her student Alma (Eden Duncan-Smith). She asks if it feels good, and Alma answers, "No. It hurts." Sarah later tries cutting herself with a razor, and finds it excruciatingly painful.
