When rumors begin to circulate that King Henry VIII (Bana) is no longer intimate with his wife who has been unable to give him a male heir, Sir Thomas Boleyn concocts a plan to bring his family back to prominence: his daughter Anne (Portman) shall seduce the King and provide him with a son. However, the scheme goes off course when the King takes to the other Boleyn girl, Anne's younger sister and best friend Mary (Johansson). Although married already, Mary gives in to family pressure and reluctantly provides the King with a boy, but along the way, she finds herself falling in love with the surprisingly tender monarch. Of course, this love affair is no obstacle for Anne whose hunger for the throne now overpowers her sisterly love, and she enacts a plan that eventually tears her family and her country apart while leading to her legendary demise.