Set in 1934 London, Ian McKellen plays Jimmy Erskine, the city's most feared drama critic, and Gemma Arterton plays Nina Land, the actress determined to win his approval. Adversaries, forced to take desperate measures to save their careers, they become entangled in a dangerous web of blackmail, ambition, and deception when Jimmy finds himself in the crosshairs of his newspaper's new owner, David Brooke (Mark Strong).