Inglaterra, año 1554. Tras la muerte de la reina María Tudor, que ha dejado al país sumido en un estado de inestabilidad financiera y crisis religiosa, sube al trono Isabel I (Cate Blanchett). Popularmente se la conoce como "La Reina Virgen", aunque por su participación en el reparto del botín obtenido tras los ataques del corsario Drake a las costas españolas, tanto peninsulares como coloniales, es también conocida como "La Reina Pirata".

The story of a poor young woman, separated by prejudice from her husband and baby, is interwoven with tales of intolerance from throughout history.

It's New Year's Eve in Thatcher's de-industrialising Britain. The scene is set at a seedy bar in Liverpool where a group of Irish Protestant and Irish Catholic pensioners will gather to clash and bash the new year in.

The recently widowed Mary Stuart returns to Scotland to reclaim her throne but is opposed by her half-brother and her own Scottish lords.

Belfast, in 1970s. Victor Kelly is a young protestant man who hates the Catholics so much that one night he begins to brutally murder them. A reporter soon tries to uncover the murder and obtained prestige for himself, while Victor sinks deeper into madness.

Switzerland 1523. The mercenary Hansli Gyr returns with his soldiers from Italy to his home in the Oberland. They have fought for the Pope and now find a religious upheaval in Switzerland.