Rome, 1948: In an attempt to recover from his marriage to Rita Hayworth and to restart his career, Orson Welles travels to Italy to act in the film Black Magic. When an actor is murdered on his set, Welles is drawn into a dangerous web of intrigue, murder and politics. With only the last words of a dead man to guide him, Welles decides to investigate the murder himself with the help of ex-policeman Tommasa and the victim's tempestuous, beautiful and elusive step-daughter Lea. As Welles looks deeper into the Roman underworld he unravels a conspiracy darker than he could have possibly imagined.