The final year of Russian socialist writer Leo Tolstoy is the center of this film. The Countess Sofya, his wife and muse, uses every trick of seduction on her husband's loyal disciple, whom she believes was the person responsible for Tolstoy signing a new will that leaves his work and property to the Russian people. The film is directed by Michael Hoffman and stars Helen Mirren, Christopher Plummer, and James McAvoy.