A starving young immigrant doctor of Italian and Greek descent, Dario
Asfar struggles to establish his practice, and is desperate to provide
for his wife and newborn son. When the vulgar, self-indulgent French
aristocrat Philippe Wardes dismisses his personal physician's advice to
abstain from alcohol and gambling, he turns to Dr. Asfar for a second
opinion. Understanding the opportunity before him, Dario obliges Wardes,
and others like him, knowing well that the rich want to eat of the
forbidden fruit without paying for the sin. At first Dario's plan is
just for survival, but soon he begins to enjoy increasing rewards by
selling himself as a master of souls who can miraculously cure restless
minds, and in so doing sheds light on the lies we tell ourselves in the
name of family and love.