1933. The ambitious Welsh journalist Gareth Jones (James Norton) gained fame after his report on being the first foreign journalist to fly with Hitler. 

Upon leaving his government role as an advisor to Lloyd George, and intrigued by the rapid modernisation of the “utopian” Soviet Union, Jones travels to Moscow in an attempt to get an interview with Stalin himself. There he meets the British journalist Ada Brooks (Vanessa Kirby), who reveals that the truth behind the regime is being violently repressed. After hearing murmurs of government-induced famine, Jones eludes the authorities and travels to Ukraine, where he witnesses the atrocities of man-made starvation in which millions are left to starve.

Deported back to London, Jones fights to reveal the horrors he witnessed. But the starvation is denied by Western journalists, including Pulitzer Prize winning Walter Duranty (Peter Sarsgaard). Meeting a young author by the name of George Orwell, Jones shares his findings… helping inspire the great allegorical novel "Animal Farm".