The story begins in 1984, Arthur Stuart (Christian Bale) is a newspaper reporter investigating the disappearance of 1970's glam rock idol Brian Slade on its 10 year anniversary. Arthur is also forced to look back at his own past which was heavily influenced by the glam rock era. Arthur seeks to find out the real truth behind the Brian Slade disappearance by speaking to the people around Slade in the 1970's, including his very close friend and fellow musician Kurt Wild (Ewan McGregor), and Slades ex-wife Mandy (Toni Collette). We step back in time to 1974 to see what really happened in this mysterious and fascinating time.