A retelling of Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, altered for a younger audience, is set in St. Petersburg during the Czarist era, just before the Russian Revolution. Rascalnikov, a young boy from a destitute family, murders an old woman who is a moneylender and steals her valuable possessions. Assigned to the case, Judge Polifili suspects Rascalnikov due to his published essay that claims "the world is divided into those who are geniuses and those who are not. A genius may commit murder but is not guilty if it is for the good of the world." At first, Rascalnikov is confident he can outsmart the law, but Judge Polifili tenaciously pursues the investigation, and eventually, he feels trapped. In the meantime, Sonya, a prostitute, desperately urges Rascalnikov to confess. Events unfold on the brink of the Russian Revolution.
