oh my leg

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man being mistreated by his "owner" as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of great intelligence and sensitivity. Based on the true story of Joseph Merrick (called John Merrick in the film), a severely deformed man in 19th century London.

The case of the Elephant Man is one of the great unsolved mysteries of medicine. What was the terrible curse that turned Joseph Merrick into history's most horribly deformed man? How did he keep his sanity as the disease ravaged his body?