Mercury Pictures Presents

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An epic tale of a brilliant woman reinventing herself to survive, moving from Mussolini's Italy to 1940s Los Angeles, unfolds as a timeless story of love, deceit, and sacrifice. Maria Lagana, born in Rome, immigrates to Los Angeles with her mother after a childhood transgression leads to her father's arrest. Fifteen years later, on the eve of America's entry into World War II, Maria is an associate producer at Mercury Pictures, struggling to maintain her personal and professional life. Her mother refuses to speak to her, her boss faces congressional scrutiny, and her boyfriend, a talented Chinese American actor, is trapped by the studio's typecasting. As Mercury Pictures teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, it becomes a gathering place for European émigrés—modernist poets, once-celebrated architects, and refugee actors—all navigating their own challenges. Amid the chaos of war, Maria rises through a landscape of conflicting loyalties and ambitions. However, the arrival of a stranger from her father's past forces her to confront her father's fate and her own. With intelligence, wit, and a sense of possibility, the narrative spans a range of emotions, celebrating life's bit players and capturing an era that resonates deeply with contemporary struggles.