The film explores the dual inspirations for his musical theatre piece Flannery's Mounted Head, first staged in 2005: Cork's Victorian 'madhouse' and the equally sprawling 'Arcades' project of the German critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin. Cathal Coughlan's song-cycle narrative centres on Flannery, a marginal character who starts out as the night manager in a call-centre. Director Johnny Gogan, who has worked with Coughlan on various projects over the years, finds Flannery's story remarkably akin to that of his creator and uses Flannery to explore his creator's own biography. The film features the live imaging work of Rob Flint, 3D animation of Jordi Perez Artigues, and actor Donal O'Kelly appears as Walter Benjamin/Mister Bungle.