Both
struggling artists, couple Einar (Eddie Redmayne) and Gerda Wegener (Alicia
Vikander) are trying to make it big in Copenhagen’s 1920’s art scene. When one
of her models does not show up for her painting session, she asks him
to fill in for her by posing in her costume. The little experiment awakens
something inside him, a feminine side which he knows has always been there. Given
his aversion towards parties, she suggests that he accompany her one time not
as her husband, but rather as his “cousin” Lili from Velje. For fun. But what
starts as simple cross dressing escalates to something more she has never
expected, the emergence of a dominant female persona undermining her husband’s
male personality. Soon enough, her portraits of Lili begin to receive fame and
attention, much to the benefit of her career. It does not take long, however, before
the resurfacing identity that he has suppressed for so long affects the
dynamics of their marriage.
