A detective is called to the scene of a crime. An old woman has been killed with a samurai sword, in a house close to where she lived. Suspicion inevitably falls on her son, Brad, who has barricaded himself into his home, armed with a gun and claiming to have taken two hostages.

Herzog collaborates with Michael Shannon for this semi-fictionalized account of the life of murderer Mark Yavorsky—both capably bringing us uncomfortably close to this man’s mental state. Made consecutively with Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, co-starring Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny.