Set in Hollywood during the early 1950s, a director faces investigation from the McCarthyite committees hunting for communist sympathizers. Although he's made compromises to advance his career, he won't compromise his friends to save it.
This powerful directorial and screenwriting debut of veteran producer Irwin Winkler vividly recreates the creative community's infamous "Blacklist Era." Robert De Niro plays Merrill, as an "A-list" director who can revive his stalled career by testifying against friends who are suspected communists. And Annette Benning is Merrill's ex-wife, sharing the whirlpool of scandal that draws the together...as his chance to ever make movies again slips further away.