The dragons in this film are not the mighty winged lizards that breathe fire and terrorize knights and damsels. Those found here are the dragons of war and injustice, the dragons of death and suffering, and even the dragons of good and evil that fight within each of us. These dragons are the ones that surround the lives of nonfictional priest and founder of the Opus Dei (Latin for "Work of God") movement, Father Jose Maria Escriva (Charlie Cox), and fictional Spanish Civil War soldier Manolo (Wes Bentley).

The story, however, opens not with them but with Manolo's son, Robert (Dougray Scott), who is in the midst of writing a book about Father Escriva, and desires to hear about the priest from his aging and estranged father. Manolo turns out to have been a childhood friend of Jose Maria, but at a young age the two took very different paths. Jose Maria felt the call to do God's work as a small boy, witnessing a barefoot priest walking in the snow and providing firewood for the poor. He goes to seminary, as does Manolo, who sees priesthood as a good career opportunity. But while Jose Maria embraces his studies and later, his priesthood, as a sacred calling, Manolo becomes bitter, especially after the sudden death of his father, and dismisses faith as "sentimental drivel."

In the meantime, the atmosphere of Spain has become nasty. The military overthrows the government and politicians fight each other for control. Nationalist and Republican soldiers clash in bloody battles. Anarchists, supportive of neither, riot in the streets. Civil war is announced. In the midst of this, the Church comes under heavy persecution. While Jose Maria struggles to keep his small flock together in Madrid, Manolo joins the Nationalist army and quickly falls in love with a Hungarian revolutionary, Ildiko (Olga Kurylenko, the Bond girl from 007's Quantum of Solace). Both of them discover that, even in a world torn by war, the battle that rages inside us between love and hate is more significant and a greater deciding factor towards the outcome than anything else.

Both Manolo and Jose Maria are greatly influenced by two particular lines. Manolo is told by his father, a successful businessman, that, "When push comes to shove, a man has only one choice: to choose the winning side." Manolo is thus led to believe that he must achieve whatever he wants, whatever the cost. This turns him into a selfish and unforgiving man. When Ildiko refuses his advances in favor of another soldier, he becomes jealous and vengeful, believing that he is not getting what he deserves, and when his actions cause suffering to others, it only increases his bitterness.

Jose Maria, on the other hand, is given a valuable lesson from an old friend: "A cocoa bean is just a ordinary little bean, but patience, hard work, skill, and love unleashes the divine flavors hidden within." He interprets this to mean that God can be found even in the banalities of life. He insists that "if we do everything in love, each daily task can be for God's glory." He proceeds to apply his worldview to everything he does and forms a band of followers that serve the poorest and sickest of the city.

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