Gillian is one of those many struggling filmmakers in L.A. who just can't seem to get the money for their first feature. Feeling like her friends and her partner are losing faith in her abilities, she decides to resurrect her abandoned documentary based on a 'compliment' she once received that she would make a good murderer. But while she documents what makes the perfect murder a hitherto unseen dark side of Gillian emerges and grows.

In this sequel to Chinatown, it is 1948 Los Angeles and private investigator Jake Gittes must solve a case of suspected adultery turned murder that's tied to a grab for oil and to Jake's own past.

Ted Crawford is a wealthy, brilliant, and meticulous structural engineer who lives in Los Angeles. He shoots his wife and entraps her lover. After the police arrive, he signs a confession. At his arraignment, he asserts his rights to represent himself and asks the court to move immediately to trial. The prosecutor is Willy Beachum, a hotshot D.A. who is getting ready to leave for a civil-law firm. He is told by everyone the case is open and shut....