1861. French silk merchant Hervé Joncour (Michael Pitt--Last Days) travels to Japan, a nation closed to all foreigners. There, from an enigmatic nobleman, Joncour clandestinely obtains eggs to breed silkworms--and break the Japanese stranglehold on the precious fabric. There Joncour also meets a woman. They do not touch; they do not even speak. And he cannot read the note she sends him until he has returned to his country. But in the moment he does, Joncour is possessed.