Leonard is a gifted but deeply disturbed sculptor. He has a deep religious fervor and a history of psychotic behavior. After escaping from an institution he meets a priest on a train who has been assigned as the new pastor in a small town. He befriends him then assumes his identity unbeknown to the townspeople. Once there he sculpts an intricate chess set of some of the townspeople and fancies himself the chess master of their deepest confessions, playing their sins against each other. The result for the town is disastrous. The ensemble cast falls into a tangled web of what is real and what is not from Leonards delusional mind of religion, murder and ordained sense of fate.
