Wag the Dog begins two weeks before a Presidential election, with the current President caught within a scandal. In order to diver the media's attention away such that the President can be reelected, the character Conrad Brean approaches movie producer Stanley Motss to help stage and fake a war with Albania. It seems like an outrageous concept at first, but throughout the film, you can see how the media reacts and how this imaginary conflict ends up feeling like reality. The plot of the film focuses on things going awry and how Conrad and Stanley works hard to divert disaster after disaster in order to keep the farce going. While it can feel stale at times with not much seemingly happening on screen, Wag the Dog has a deeper more subtle atmosphere that keeps you watching.