A local woman is hired to draw paparazzi away from a Hollywood actress who has come to Scotland to get married.

On the eve of Prohibition in 1920, Atlantic City county treasurer Enoch "Nucky" Thompson is looking to cash in. Prohibition may have outlawed alcohol, but in Nucky's world it has opened up highly lucrative opportunities for gangsters and rumrunners looking to provide "liquid gold" for a thirsty nation. In a city defined by notorious backroom politics and vicious power struggles, Nucky battles a relentless federal agent, ambitious underlings, and opportunistic rivals—including Arnold Rothstein, Lucky Luciano, and Al Capone.

Heroin addict Mark Renton stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends -- Sick Boy, Begbie, Spud and Tommy. He also has an underage girlfriend, Diane, along for the ride. After cleaning up and moving from Edinburgh to London, Mark finds he can't escape the life he left behind when Begbie shows up at his front door on the lam, and a scheming Sick Boy follows.