In the police department in New York, everyone knows the Terni family. After Old Terni (Jon Voight) cracked down on large-scale drug trafficking cases and cleared out local gangs in New York, the name Terni has become a dreaded reputation among criminals in New York. And his son Ray Terni (Edward Norton), who took over from Old Terni, is also seen as a rising star in the New York police force for his belief in justice and impartial law enforcement, just like his father.
During a search operation to chase a suspect, Ray Terni unexpectedly discovered that his cousin Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell), who also works with him in the NYPD, was involved in covering up an arson scandal. As Ray Terni dug deeper into the investigation, he found that things were not as simple as he had imagined. More and more familiar colleagues and relatives were implicated, and he even discovered that his own father was not as clean as he thought. Three generations of the family, all police officers, had various unclear connections with gangs in New York involved in drugs and smuggling. He also found evidence of his brother Francis Terni's (Noah Emmerich) involvement in criminal activities.
Jimmy found out about Ray Terni's investigation and soon took countermeasures. Using their blood relationship, Jimmy put Ray Terni in a difficult situation, and even his wife wanted a divorce because of Ray's continued investigation. The family was on the verge of collapse, and it was then that Ray Terni realized that the shiny and respected police family was not as perfect as he had imagined. Faced with a difficult choice, should Ray Terni destroy the honor of the Terni family in the name of justice, or abandon justice for personal gain and cover up the truth of this matter?