Orleans was paralyzed after the hurricane. All the guards and prisoners in the local prison had been evacuated, but one prisoner was forgotten. Officer Terrence McDonagh (Nicolas Cage) and his colleagues found him while patrolling the cell, and Terrence helped him. This heroic act promoted him to lieutenant, but his spine was also seriously damaged, and he could only rely on drugs to relieve pain. The increasing pain made various drugs ineffective, and Terrence suffered in the process. He had to seek help from drugs, and his physical and financial conditions were close to the brink of collapse, and his temper was getting worse. A heroic policeman gradually degenerates. Soon, a family massacre occurred in the city, and the drug lord Dafett was a major suspect. Terrence was ordered to investigate the case, and in the process, his long-lost conscience gradually revived... This film won the Christopher D. Smithers Foundation Special Award at the 2009 Venice Film Festival.