On April 8, 2000, aspiring artist Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell) became a victim of a violent assault when five men beat him up and left him for dead. Following the attack, Mark was left with little to no memory of his previous life due to brain damage inflicted by his attackers. In a desperate attempt to regain his memories, Hogancamp constructs a miniature World War II village called Marwen in his yard to help in his recovery. Unfortunately, Mark's demons come back to haunt him when he's asked to testify against the five men that attacked him..　　《马尔文科》根据2010年同名纪录片改编，讲述了Mark Hogancamp的真实故事。这个男人在被5名青少年暴打之后，陷入长达九天的昏迷，醒来后失去了记忆，他的生活、朋友和家人什么都不记得了。 　　作为一种特殊的治疗手段，Mark Hogancamp开始在自家后院，用1：6的模型玩偶创作出了一个二战时期的比利时小镇，他将之称为“马文科尔”（Marwencol），他用玩偶代表自己、朋友和那些殴打他的人。 　　“马文科尔”在一定程度上修补了Mark Hogancamp的头脑，同时也让他创造出了一个奇幻的世界。而这个世界通过Jeff Malmberg在2010年公映的纪录片，也得以让更多的人看到。