December 1924, Karl Denke fails to smite Vincenz Olivier with a pickaxe. He would have been his 31st victim. The film thus reconstructs the mind, motivation, and psyche of its main character in intense dialog between him and the inspector.
An illegal Filipino entertainer in Japan, Manuel, meets a bankrupt Japanese businessman, Shigeru. After knowing the whereabouts of a high-profile serial killer at large, the two men decide to capture the killer to get a big bounty.
