Against the turbulent backdrop of post-Civil War Washington, rookie lawyer Frederick Aiken (James McAvoy) reluctantly agrees to defend Mary Surratt (Robin Wright Penn) the lone woman charged as a co-conspirator in the assassination trial of Abraham Lincoln.
When his colleagues, friends, and true love begin to desert him, Aiken must rely on Mary’s spirited daughter Anna (Evan Rachel Wood) to help piece together the events leading up to the assassination.
Facing down the government he fought so heroically to defend, Aiken quickly realizes Mary may be innocent and that she is being used as bait in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped the massive manhunt: her own son, John.
Unwilling to incriminate her boy, Mary refuses to cooperate as Aiken seeks to defend her by building his case against John.
With time running out, Aiken puts everything on the line in order to convince a bloodthirsty nation and Mary herself, to do what is right. But will this be enough to prevent the U.S. government and its people from flouting principle and exacting revenge?
Starring: James McAvoy, Robin Wright Penn, Justin Long, Evan Rachel Wood, Tom Wilkinson