In the 1960s, a vigilante group called Esquadrão da Morte fights crime outside the law. Lúcio Flávio, a notorious bank robber in Rio de Janeiro, tries to change his life in Belo Horizonte but faces a predetermined destiny.

Based on the escapades of a real-life bandit, Héctor Babenco’s anarchic thriller throws a grenade into the stifling clutch of the dictatorship. Brutal heists are juxtaposed with the dirty deeds of the infamous death squads, exposing the thin line between criminals and so-called enforcers of the law.