Born in 1929, Zdzisław Beksiński, a Polish surrealist painter famous for his eerie post-apocalyptic works, is a cult artist who has portrayed decaying bodies and fantasized of hard core S&M sexual experiences. Known for his keen sense of humor, he is also scared of spiders and tending to his sick mother. His neurotic, suicidal son, Tomasz, is a cult radio DJ and translator, responsible for the Polish versions of Monty Python films. His wife, Zofia Beksińska, a devoted Catholic, endures these two eccentrics and glues the family together. As the parents try to prevent their son from hurting himself, their lives are defined by painting, a series of near-death experiences, funerals and changing trends in dance music.