Abandoned, alone, a freak show attraction deemed a public indecency – John Merrick is infamous in Victorian England owing to the extreme deformity of his body. Seeking the help of a young doctor he is admitted to the prestigious London Hospital and over the years Merrick is changed from obscene and pitiful freak to the witty favourite of the aristocracy. But can he ever truly be accepted for who he is beneath his deformities and become a man like any other?