Law Abiding Citizen

Frankie Dove is a former architect turned obsessive vigilante, whose life is forever changed when his wife, Sarah, and their young daughter are brutally murdered in their home. The killing is carried out by Clarence Darby, who works alongside Leslie T. Wright, a ruthless and cunning hitman. The murder of Frankie's family sets off a chain of events that drives him into a spiral of grief, anger, and a quest for revenge. In an effort to bring Darby to justice, the family's lawyer, Clarence Beatty, attempts to secure a plea deal for Darby. However, this deal includes a reduced sentence in exchange for Darby's testimony against the other major players involved in the murder. Ultimately, Beatty successfully negotiates a plea bargain, which secures Darby's testimony against other members of the group but dismisses most other charges including murder. For Frankie, the outcome is a miscarriage of justice and a clear example of the system failing him and his family. Disillusioned with the system and fueled by anger and a personal desire for retribution, Frankie begins an elaborate scheme to take justice into his own hands. Utilizing his skills as an architect, he creates an intricate trap designed to eliminate both Darby and the others responsible for his family's murder. The design includes a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption located in a rooftop swimming pool in downtown Philadelphia. This scheme is meant to ensnare Darby while also claiming the lives of Darby's accomplices. As the story unfolds, we are introduced to Nicholas Crown, a ruthless District Attorney and Leslie T. Wright's employer. Crown recognizes the brutality of his charges but fails to acknowledge his responsibility in the plea bargain deal that released Darby. Both Crown and Beatty believe they have circumvented justice but clearly overlook the unanticipated path that Frankie takes to ensure justice. Frankie and Beatty cross paths again when Frank starts to meticulously target various associates connected to the original crime. This time it is apparent to the authorities that the targets of Frankie's trap were also minor players in various unsolved cases or other crimes that had unresolved cases pending in court dealing with lesser charges. It also appears that the locations of the various traps Frankie use have no direct relation to Darby's locations but some have some indirect relation. As tensions escalate, the mysterious figure of Clyde Shelton becomes shrouded with intrigue. Shelton, a known and feared acquaintance of Frankie's is caught in the crossfire between the authorities and the targeted individuals. Shelton holds deep connections with Crown and serves as a middleman in the various business transactions for Crown's associates. Shelton's complicated relationship with Frankie begins to take a life of its own as his own morals begin to clash with his deep ties to his former acquaintance. As Frankie's trap systematically eliminates key players from both Crown's and Wright's side, the authorities find themselves in a desperate game of cat and mouse. Beatty attempts to save various lives by trying to broker deals with Crown despite him acknowledging that all were killed using tactics out of their league and ultimately ends up crossing the line of crossing into a career threatening moral battleground for Crown and his associates. Meanwhile, Beatty continues to try and thwart the entire intricate heist by working closely with Detective Harris. But Frankie is not the only one with a strategic plan. Darby's accomplices and Crown realize his original plan involved carrying out public executions of captured targets. As Frankie's ploy unfolds with each consecutive death; Darby's fate is tied up in his execution with Crown to assist his own reenactment of justice in attempting to place the responsibilities of the captured execution videos on Frank.