In the golden age of the studio system, Eddie Mannix keeps the machinery of a Hollywood dream factory running smoothly, smoothing over scandals before they reach the papers. When the studio's biggest star vanishes mid-shoot from a lavish Roman epic, kidnapped by a mysterious cabal, Mannix races through a single frantic day of aquatic musicals, singing cowboys and prickly directors. The Coen brothers turn their affectionate, screwball gaze on 1950s moviemaking, assembling a starry ensemble for a comedy that doubles as a wry meditation on faith, labor and the strange devotion of chasing pictures.