A screen legend is drawn into a murder mystery that reaches to the highest ranks of the entertainment industry in director Oliver Parker's 1940s-era thriller featuring a sleuthing Orson Welles (played by Danny Huston). The year is 1948 and, having just suffered a breakup with Rita Hayworth and a falling-out with Hollywood, Welles arrives in Rome to appear before the cameras in BLACK MAGIC. Though Welles' primary concerns on the set of his latest film are to forget his troubles back home and secure financing for his next directorial effort, the on-set murder of a supporting player proves but the opening act of a much larger mystery. Subsequently enlisting the aid of his faithful driver, an ex-policeman named Tommaso (Diego Luna), Welles discovers a hit list that includes his name and points to a deadly and far-reaching conspiracy. As the first democratic elections draw near and old vendettas slowly begin to surface, Welles and his sleuthing companion are about to come into the company of some very dangerous people.