The film is strongly associated with a sort of non-fiction film noir, and is an investigation into the facts of a murder case. There is no narration, only interviews with people associated with the case, evidence from the case, and reenactments which reconstruct events as they were described by witnesses. Eventually the film reveals that the crime was not committed by Randall Adams. Adams "spent 12 years in prison before his conviction in the murder of a Dallas police officer was thrown out largely on the basis of evidence uncovered" in the film.