An unusually intense teenager gets the idea that his name defines his destiny in this offbeat comedy. Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) is a young man who has made the discovery that his birth name is the same as that of Leon Trotsky, the celebrated Russian revolutionary and socialist theorist. This coincidence leads Leon to believe that he is the reincarnation of Trotsky and it is his destiny to follow his path as closely as possible—which is a bit difficult when you have rich parents and attend an upscale private school in Montreal.

Leon's father (Saul Rubinek) gives his son a part-time job in one of his clothing factories, and within a day Leon is leading his fellow workers in a sit-down strike. Father isn't amused and punishes Leon by making him attend public school, but there the world-be revolutionary finds new ways to battle fascism—which in this case is represented by Principal Berkhoff (Colm Feore) and Mrs. Davis (Domini Blythe), a teacher eager to give her students detention.

Leon's pursuit of social justice causes him to fall in with Frank (Michael Murphy), a burned-out activist turned college professor, but Leon also finds himself infatuated with Frank's current girlfriend—who, like Trotsky's great love, is named Alexandra (Emily Hampshire) and is nine years older than he is.

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Jacob Tierney has worked as an actor since the age of six in films like Josh and S.A.M., The Neon Bible, and This Is My Father. He directed the short films Dad and Twist, which premiered at Venice. The Trotsky is his feature debut, and he is at work on the follow-up, Notre Dame de Grace.