Edvot, an ice-cold professional torturer, is hired to quell a rebellious carnival clown, but what he uncovers makes his own evil pale by comparison. After executing his grisly task, Edvot discovers that his client -- a carnival showman with a taste for carnal excess -- is hiding a freakish horror beyond even a torturer's twisted imagination. Edvot's journey through the carnival underworld ultimately forces him to confront his own monstrous nature and to decide what it really means to be human.