Much of this absorbing, grim psychological thriller is set within Brooklyn's Kings County House of Detention and follows the moral downfall of an idealistic, straight-arrow black correctional officer, 36-year-old Paul Lamont. Strongly believing in prison reform yet horrified by the never-ending amount of criminals freed by the ineffectual justice system, Lamont dreams of becoming a lawyer and working for change. His humanity, honesty and rigid enforcement of rules does little to endear him to his more thug-like colleagues who have become cynical and cruel. One day the idealistic Lamont assists a badly brutalized Haitian illegal alien incarcerated for a rape he swears he didn't commit. Lamont believes Jean Baptiste is innocent and, against his wife's wishes, pays Jean's bail and brings him home. Jean Baptiste is a gentle soul, a professional baker who tries to earn enough money to support his children back home. Soon Angela finds herself slowly falling for the guest while Lamont is forced to work increasing overtime hours. Lamont loves his wife and is normally a devoted husband, but work is beginning to exact a heavy emotional toll. Realizing that an attraction between Angela and Jean Baptiste exists, he grows unnaturally jealous and insecure. It begins to show when he participates in a brutal beating at work and it culminates with a violent confrontation at home.