On the eve of the Russian revolution, a young student named Raskolnikov murders an old pawnbroker over a pocket watch. Although an innocent man is quickly arrested for the crime, Raskolnikov's own published essay—suggesting that people who are "extra-ordinary" are above such things as "right" and "wrong"—draws the suspicion of judge Porfiry. Who will catch up to Raskolnikov first? Porfiry...or his own guilty conscience?