Margaret Atwood has never been more relevant than she is today. Readers are turning to her work as they face the rise of authoritarian politics, rapidly evolving technologies, and the slow-motion disaster of climate change. Her poetry and books are about survival, but they are also survival tools themselves. The success of the television adaptation of her novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, has made Atwood a household name. The launch of her sequel, The Testaments, was international news. Millions follow Atwood’s early morning Tweets.

Yet few know the private Margaret Atwood. Who is the woman behind these stories? How does she always seem to know what is to come? Over the course of a year, a film crew had exclusive access to Atwood and her late partner Graeme Gibson as the couple travelled to speaking engagements around the world, where Atwood was enthusiastically welcomed by crowds of all ages.

In the resulting documentary, we get a rare glimpse at the author’s practice as she completes the final chapters of The Testaments on planes, on boats and on the road. We also accompany Atwood to the set of The Handmaid’s Tale, where she meets with Ane Crabtree, the designer of the blood-red robes now worn by protesters around the world, and lead actor Elisabeth Moss.

The film also delves into Margaret Atwood’s “backstory”, growing up in the Canadian wilderness, her early days as a poet at Harvard where she met and married a classmate, later meeting her life-partner Graeme Gibson and writing The Handmaid’s Tale.

Atwood’s major works are explored and threaded through the film, revealing the personal and societal factors that inform her stories.