Set in 1937, “The Leopard” follows Roman Markin, who works as a Soviet censor artist for the Communist party. His primary work for the party lies in retouching and airbrushing pictures of Stalin, making him look better, and erasing enemies of the state from other pictures. The premise behind erasing these people from these thousands of photographs is to erase their historical existence. The work is constant and tedious, yet for an art connoisseur such as Markin, the touch-ups also provide him with an outlet for creativity. Markin’s work for the party has led him to betray his own brother Vladimir (Vaska), who refused to abandon his religious faith and died for it, and who now must also be erased from any and all photographic records.

Filled with guilt after his brother’s death, Markin visits Vaska’s wife and her son, his nephew (also named Vladimir), offering help. She refuses his help, however, and his guilt unassuaged. In time, Markin starts adding his brother into the background of every painting that he has changed, including a landscape painting by a Russian artist named Zakharov. Markin’s days are full of gloomy despair, until one day, a photo of a ballerina enthralls him.