象人（約翰?赫特 John Hurt 飾）是一個天生的畸形癥患者，他的臉長得就像大象的臉，因此而得名。象人一直被利欲昏心的馬戲團老板利用，帶到世界各地去巡回演出，受盡了非人的虐待。象人所經受的遭遇社會名流們都會感到不可思議，然而樂觀堅強的象人卻承擔了下來。直到有一次，象人遇上了年輕的英國醫生（安東尼?霍普金斯 Anthony Hopkins 飾），出于憐憫和醫生的操守，他與馬戲團老板簽訂了“領養”協議后，將象人帶回了醫院作研究。在醫院里，象人重新感受到了人間的溫暖，而醫生也在和象人的交往中結下了深深的友誼，他已經舍不得這位“上帝的棄兒”。但利欲昏心的馬戲團老板帶人又將象人搶了回去，象人的新生活是否就此終結？

　　In the futuristic city of Vanille, with properly tuned ImmerSyst Eyes & Ears the world can look and sound like a paradise. But the life of a father and his young son threatens to disintegrate when the father's device begins to fail. Desperate to avoid facing his own traumatic reality, the man must venture outside to find a replacement, into a city where violence and danger lurk beneath a skim of beautiful illusion.

　　Two estranged brothers come together and discover old family secrets after inheriting their grandfather's property. As their friends start to go missing, they fear they are being stalked by a creature lurking in the shadows.

　　本片根據社會活動家約翰·戴維森的人生經歷改編。他年少時被診斷出患有妥瑞氏綜合征，會不受控制地抽動身體或口吐惡言。妥瑞氏綜合征迫使約翰與同齡人疏遠，而他則不懈與這種鮮為人知的癥狀作斗爭，積極為妥瑞氏人群發聲。