In 1933, after leaving Dogville, Grace Margaret Mulligan sees a slave being punished at a cotton farm called Manderlay. Officially slavery is illegal and Grace stands up against the owners of the farm. She stays with some gangsters in Manderlay and tries to influence the situation. But when harvest time comes Grace sees the social and economic reality of Manderlay.

20-year-old Bella Cherry leaves the small town life in Sweden for Los Angeles with the aim to become the worlds next big porn star but the road to her goal turns out to be bumpier than she imagined.