Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks) is one of the greatest lawyers in the city of Philadelphia. He works for a group of very conservative lawyers, and that’s the reason why he is keeping his homosexuality and the fact that he has contracted AIDS, a secret. One day however, Andrew is being fired and he assumes his secret had gotten out. During this difficult time Andrew hires a lawyer named Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), who himself needs to leave his fears and concerns regarding Andrew behind. Once Joe is able to do that, he is fighting for Andrew in court, whose disease is progressing rather quickly.