The young Scottish people journalist Martin Gimmle (Grant) is traveling to Venice by train to drop off a copy of his book on Neo-Nazism to an unknown publisher. On the way there he meets a bevy of odd characters. Among them is ''The Stranger'' (McDowell), an illusive and evil character, who has mysterious powers over people, and even their dreams. He also encounters Vera (Welch), a performer who is travelling with her daughter, and he falls in love with her.