As in the original 1962 film, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE focuses on soldier Ben Marco (Denzel Washington), who is haunted by nightmares of serving in the Persian Gulf War. Marco knows the story of the incident that got him his medal. Everyone who was there uses the same words to tell the story and especially to describe Raymond Shaw (Liev Shreiber), who got the Congressional Medal of Honor for his bravery. Marco meets up with a member of the platoon who is badly damaged. Is it post-traumatic stress, or is it his brain fighting back from something it has been programmed to believe? Meanwhile, Shaw is struggling as well. Being a war hero helped him be elected to Congress and he’s now a contender for the vice-presidential candidacy. His mother (Meryl Streep), a Senator, is pushing him very hard. He resents it, but cannot seem to resist. The Senator purrs, seduces, and finally brutalizes a group of politicos into abandoning their choice for the VP spot and taking Raymond instead. But Marco is increasingly troubled. Shaw is at first glad to see him again, then sympathetic, then skeptical. What Marco is suggesting seems absurd, impossible. But in his heart, Shaw knows that it might explain everything.