故事发生在三十年代的伦敦，这座巨大的城市里，处处弥漫着奢靡和浮华的气息，男男女女们沉浸于此，不知魏晋。亚当（史蒂芬·坎贝尔·摩尔 Stephen Campbell Moore 饰）是一位默默无闻的作家，他将名媛妮娜（艾米莉·莫迪默 Emily Mortimer 饰）当做了“垫脚石”，希望能够通过两人的婚姻成功打入纸醉金迷的上流社会。
妮娜陷入了同亚当的热恋中无法自拔，可她那保守而又古老的家族却并不看好两人的婚事，他们根本就不把亚当看在眼里，觉得他根本就配不上妮娜。面对家人的反对，妮娜决定叛逆一把，她从家中偷偷溜了出来，找到了亚当，然而，对于自己和妮娜两人的处境，亚当也手足无措，两人的未来看似一片黑暗。

Jedrington's unknown past comes back to haunt him in the form of the bitter lawyer Mr Malifax Skulkingworm (Stephen Fry). Skulkingworm finds a loophole in the law and has Jedrington's shop confiscated and family thrown into the debtor's prison. With just hours before the Big Ben strikes twelve to herald in Christmas day, Jedrington must race against the clock to save his family before it is too late.