Taking its inspiration (and its title) from the famous Rembrandt masterpiece that depicts a seventeenth-century public autopsy, The Anatomy Lesson follows Kiddo, a streetwise ingenuous American teenager who has exiled himself by choice in modern Amsterdam. Sponging off the Dutch welfare system and trading dole for drugs, Kiddo is fighting for his life to come to terms with the premature death of his older brother Morton.

A bona fide genius with his halo of flame-red hair shining like a beacon of intelligence, Morton, even in death, was always the patron saint and guru for his younger sibling. But gradually Kiddo begins to unveil the chilling, dark side of his brother that he never knew. Honoring his last request, Kiddo must bear witness to Morton's autopsy. The anatomy lesson proves to be only the beginning of a painful journey of emotional and sexual awakening that is at once both devastating and liberating.