Michael is imprisoned at a young age for the manslaughter of his employer, a lonely gentleman who enjoyed Michael's childlike view of life. Michael has mild learning difficulties and was raised in a children's home. Unable to explain to the court that Mr Tim's death was the result of a tragic accident, he finds himself in prison, where he is taunted, humiliated and forced to act as a butler to Monk, his deluded older cellmate. Desperate and reclusive, Michael plots his revenge as Monk, grows evermore brazen in his belief that he has joined the hallowed ranks of the English aristocracy.