London, 1934. Jimmy Erskine is an infamous theatre critic, savagely taking down any actor unfortunate enough to disappoint him. He is especially harsh with Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), a leading lady in-the-making who has long idolised Erskine. He lives as flamboyantly as he writes; parties into the night, encounters in the park, and cohabiting with his much younger ‘secretary’ Tom (Alfie Enoch). But when his newspaper’s proprietor dies and his son (Mark Strong) takes over, Jimmy is told to tone it down, to avoid falling foul of the paper’s new family values. When his job security is threatened, he hatches a devious plan, setting off a chain of events with terrible consequences.