In 1899 Toronto, aspiring young politician Mackenzie King dreams of being the Prime Minister of Canada. As he hesitates in love between a British soldier and a French-Canadian nurse, King furtive indulges a fetishistic obsession that might well be his downfall. In his quest for power, King must gratify the expectations of his imperious mother, the hawkish fantasies of a war-mongering Governor-General, and the utopian idealism of a Québécois mystic before facing the final test of leadership. Finally, in an epic battle between good and evil. King learns that disappointment might be the only way to survive the 20th century.