The reimagining of Anthony Quinn's novel 'Curtain Call' centres on Jimmy Erskine (Ian McKellen), the Daily Chronicle's most famous and featured theatre critic of the age; David Brooke (Mark Strong), with whom he clashes after recently inheriting the paper; and a young actress, Nina Land (Gemma Arterton), who is devastated by Jimmy's recent negative review of her.
As the three become entangled in a whodunnit wrapped in a Faustian pact, their strange triangle winds tighter and tighter to devastating effect for all those caught in the deadly web of blackmail and betrayal.