In 1910, celebrated novelist Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) and also his wife Sofya (Helen Mirren) wholeheartedly disagree within the legal rights to Tolstoy's literary legacy. Sofya considers her spouse needs to bequeath them upon his own passing, whilst Tolstoy's chief disciple, Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), has nearly convinced the writer to indication the rights on the Russian folks.