Attorney General Michael Ward (Fassbender) is a Demoractic Nominee running for President of the United States, competing with rival nominee and oil tycoon Norman Snow (Goodman), and is in engaged to egalitarian Maggie Winslow (Portman), but with all in his life, he can't handle the pressure. One day, he has a one night stand with a gay man (Gordon-Levitt) who is in an abusive relationship and he continues to have an affair with him, but he must be careful with his secret love life, fearing that his political enemies and his fiancée will discover his secret.