Stockholm policeman Martin Beck is called in to investigate the murder of a fellow officer. Beck and his partner, Einar Ronn, soon discover that the murdered policeman was well known to his colleagues for his excessive brutality, though his misdeeds were never reported to higher authorities. As they pursue their investigation, a sniper climbs to a roof in downtown Stockholm and starts firing at every uniformed officer he sees.

Small-scale farmer Pasi shoots four policemen who have come to arrest him for raged drunkenness. Rest of the movie is a long flashback examining the events that finally leads to the tragic shooting. As time goes by, Pasi sinks gradually deeper and deeper into the poverty, gets into trouble with both police and tax officials while family arguments grow more and more serious. Based on a true story.

Depicts the controversial double police murder, involving neo-nazism and a theatre project by one of Scandinavia's most celebrated playwrights. The film traces a complex and fascinating chain of events leading up to the fatal climax in the picturesque small town of Malexander, Sweden.