As a baby, Patrick (Cillian Murphy) is left by his mother on the steps of the rectory in their small Irish town. He's discovered by Father Liam (Liam Neeson), coincidentally his real father, and placed in an abusive foster home. By the time he's a teen, Patrick identifies himself as transgendered, renames himself Kitten and sets out for London with a rock group in hopes of finding his mother. Along the way he works variously as a magician's assistant, a prostitute and a dancer.