In this startling legal thriller, hotshot criminal attorney Ben Chase (Gary Oldman) defends his young, blue-blooded client Martin Thiel (Kevin Bacon) accused of a spate of vicious murders. By cunningly manipulating the testimony of the key witness Chase discredits the prosecutions case and secures the freedom of his client. But when the killings begin again, his suspicions are quickly raised when Thiel asks to be represented again. Hoping to snare him with a misstep, Chase opens his own investigation whilst attending court to defend him, but soon begins to discover that he may share more in common with Thiel than he thought. Seeing himself in a new and dreadful light Chase redoubles his efforts and risks his life and his career to prove him guilty and stop his murderous campaign.