A grifter working his way up from low-ranking carnival worker to lauded psychic medium matches wits with a psychologist bent on exposing him.

When charismatic but down-on-his-luck Stanton Carlisle (Cooper) endears himself to clairvoyant Zeena (Toni Collette) and her has-been mentalist husband Pete (David Strathairn) at a traveling carnival, he crafts what seems to be a golden ticket to success.

The more he uses his newly acquired knowledge to grift the wealthy elite of 1940s New York society, the more his ambition grows. Soon, with the virtuous Molly (Rooney Mara) loyally by his side, Stanton plots to con a dangerous tycoon (Richard Jenkins) with the aid of a mysterious psychiatrist (Blanchett), who might turn out to be his most formidable opponent yet.