The movie begins as we see a man named Walden Dean, who works as a stenographer in a courtroom. Currently, he is in a typing competition where he plans to break the world record of 361 words typed in a minute, and he manages to type 343 words so far. Later, while heading to the court, he meets one of his friends, George, who is a mentally handicapped person, and Walden admits he is getting close to win the typing contest.
George then informs him that he won’t like today's court case, because the defendant is a really bad man. Later in court, we find out that the case involves a man named Bolt, who cruelly burned his 3-year-old daughter in an oven for washing her doll’s hair. Hearing this, the judge, Boyle, is disgusted, and he asks Norman what makes a man want to hurt a child.
He then charges him with first-degree murder and sentences him to death, while the man can only laugh at the reading of his charges. Afterward, Boyle and Walden go out to lunch and discuss the severity of Norman's case. Boyle questions why he is so focused on the typing competition, so Walden explains that he likes having a goal to work towards, and Boyle suggests that maybe he should aim to find a nice girl and settle down instead.
Upon arriving home, Walden begins cleaning his steno machine and writes about his day. He then recalls Norman's case, and wonders how someone could burn their own daughter to the bone in an oven. Upon recalling this, he feels sick and rushes to throw up.
Before going to bed, he prays to God, explaining that he can't kneel tonight, because he witnessed how the little girl suffered while God was absent. He understands that God might be busy with bigger things, but for him, nothing seems bigger than this. Suddenly, he feels sick again and heads to the bathroom to throw up.
The following day, Walden visits the hospital for a checkup; he sits next to an old man who seems to be having a nightmare. The doctor assures Walden that everything is normal, and when Walden says he's been throwing up, the doctor assumes it's due to the stress of his job. While leaving the hospital, Walden is suddenly stopped by the old patient, who begs him to stop "her.
" But he doesn’t understand who the man is referring to, so he excuses himself. In the next scene, the cops are partying at the station when a couple shows up in panic. The woman explains that their son, Cal, was missing when she checked on him this morning.
A detective named Bill asks why she’s sure it’s a kidnapping, so she discloses that four Mexican boys have disappeared in recent years. She thinks that the culprit targets Mexican children because they are unimportant to the law, but Bill assures her that no one is unimportant. Afterwards, Walden is in court, recording a deeply disturbing case again.
Suddenly, he sees the vision of his dead mother and loses consciousness. In the hospital, a doctor tells him that he has a brain tumor called meningioma. Walden says he knows what meningioma is because he once had a suspect who suffered from it and eventually took her own life after being crazy.
Walden asks whether he'll die, but the doctor informs him that if they start diagnosing him immediately, it may be curable. Just then, Walden remembers that it is time for his typing competition and decides to leave, while the doctor tells him that he must take his condition seriously. Afterward, in the competition, Walden achieves an impressive typing speed of 351 words per minute.
While leaving, he is approached by a woman named Emily, who praises him for his speed, and she says that she used to work as a stenographer in New York. She then asks him why he's so talented, and where he gets his mental agility, so Walden discloses that his forefathers have all been stenographers for five generations, and have all lived in this place. He also reveals that the steno machine he uses is also his father's, and he is attached to it.
At the police station, Bill is approached by his colleague Sally, who informs him about the disappearance of 8 Mexican kids over the last 10 years. That evening, Walden meets his father at a bar and orders whiskey, but this shocks the old man because Walden has never drunk in his life. Walden then requests that his father return to his home so they can spend time together like in old times.
However, Dad refuses and informs Walden that he is wasting his life by pursuing the typing competition. Walden asks him not to be negative, but his father tells him that even if he wins, it will be just meaningless glory. Later, Walden heads to a pharmacy to get a pill for his headache, right when a robber enters and threatens the store clerk with a gun.
But then, the furious nerd pulls a surprising move… He violently smashes the whiskey bottle in the robber’s face. When the cops arrive, Detective Bill and Sally are impressed by Walden, but our hero feels terrible and apologizes for his behavior, and they reassure him that he did the right thing. The robber is severely injured but will recover.
When Walden gets home, he takes out his old journals and recalls his childhood. His mother was very abusive toward him, and his parents would argue every night. Due to this, Walden used to shut himself in his room and type hurtful words lashed out by his parents all the time.
Eventually, his mother ran away with his dad’s brother, and was killed several years later by a drunk driver. Walden felt a sense of relief at that time, since he had never liked his mother. The following day, when Walden arrives at the station, he notices that Bill is very angry.
Here the cops share that Norman was released on a technicality, because the prosecution failed to submit their evidence. Adding insult to the murder of the little girl, the evil free guy even ordered a brand new stove at his house. Disturbed by this news, Walden returns home, and ends up drinking a lot.
Finally, the man can no longer contain his rage, and does something he never does in his daily life; he heads to Norman's house, and immediately puts his head on a stove. Norman pleads with him to let him go, but Walden says he should never have gotten out of jail in the first place. Walden is furious that the man might think what he did to his daughter is a normal thing, so he turns on the stove and brutally cooks Norman to death.
He goes back home and lies on his bed, feeling satisfied. The following morning, he receives a phone call from Bill, who informs him of Norman's death. However, Walden acts surprised and says it's terrible to have your head cooked on your brand-new stove.
In the following scene, the cops finally discover the body of the missing kid, Cal, in the woods. His mother is in a state of distraught, and Bill has to calm her down. Just then, Walden also arrives at the scene, and is horrified by the grim situation.
At Cal's funeral, the priest suggests that the child has moved on to a better place with God. However, Bill gets mad and shouts about how God can allow the violation and murder of a nine-year-old. We also learn the last thing Cal ate before his death was candy bars.
After the funeral, Boyle praises Walden for fighting the robber the other day, and our hero tries to apologize, but Boyle assures him that he did nothing wrong. The judge also claims that the town is becoming increasingly dangerous, so he decides to provide Walden with a permit to carry a gun. Walden says that it isn't necessary, but Boyle advises him that it is better to be safe than sorry.
Later, Emily shows up at the court to meet Walden and invites him to a family event. He tries to refuse her, but she assures him that he'll be back home before sunset. They then go to her house, where he meets her parents, and Walden discovers that Emily's dad and his dad were friends in the past.
Emily's father expresses shame for what Walden's mother has done to them, and Walden bluntly states that he is aware of his mother's reputation as a whore. After this, Emily drives him home, and Walden mentions it's the longest he has gone without typing, and suddenly she kisses him before leaving. The next day, Bill and Sally visit George, and ask if he's seen anyone suspicious recently.
George claims he hasn't, so they ask him to tell them if he has any information about Cal's murder. George agrees, and then says that today's court case is very bad, and there’s a very bad man. The detectives are curious about the candy bar in George’s hands; it’s the same candy bar that Cal had before he died.
Later in court, the case involves a nurse named Katherine, who is accused of physically beating multiple patients to death. It turns out a patient recently died as a result of her assault, and he had bruises all over his body. When the doctor says that he had cataracts in his eyes, Walden recalls the old man he met at the hospital a few days ago who pleaded with him to stop "her.
" It is then revealed that there have been many patients who have died after suffering similar injuries. Following this, Boyle asks the prosecutor if anyone has actually witnessed Nurse Katherine assaulting these patients, and she replies that no one has. So, due to the lack of evidence and credible witnesses, Katherine is released without facing any charges.
In the evening, we see the nurse working alone at the hospital, right when a room calls for assistance, and the nurse angrily moves from her seat. But to her shock, Walden shows up, and then begins torturing her. He asks if she tortured and killed those patients, and she finally confesses her crimes.
Hearing this, Walden uses a leather belt to severely beat her before finally choking her to death. The following day, Bill and Sally reach the crime scene, and are shocked by the gruesome sight. Sally discusses all the current situations with Bill, and seems to be trying to blame George, but Bill says George has the mental capacity of a 10-year-old, and is incapable of doing this.
In the next scene, Emily and Walden go to attend a jazz concert, but Walden suddenly sees the vision of his mother in the crowd and freaks out. When he leaves without saying anything, Emily is taken aback. Meanwhile, Bill and Sally are keeping an eye on George, who is playing with a little Mexican kid.
George shares a candy bar with the kid, and takes him to his home. Soon after, the detectives enter his house to find him and the boy playing a video game. The kid says that George hasn’t hurt him, but they’re arresting him anyway.
The following day, Walden comes to the station, and asks Bill why George has been arrested. The detective explains that they suspect George may be connected to the death of Cal, but Walden disagrees. He says that George is his friend, and he trusts him.
After this, Walden goes to his cell, and asks if he kidnapped and murdered those kids, but George denies it, stating they were only playing. He says that he doesn't want to die like this, so Walden promises him that he will not. At home, Walden is drinking, and acting erratically when Emily arrives.
She scolds him for leaving her alone on their date night and not responding to her calls. To calm her, he kisses her, and they end up making love. Around midnight, Emily wakes up and notices light coming from a room.
She goes there and discovers many journals, where Walden has written about the trauma and pain he experienced during his childhood. Shortly after, Walden asks what she’s doing here, and she says that she can't believe he lives with so much loss and pain. She asks him to throw these journals away and move forward with his life, but Walden refuses and says that these memories are all he has.
Emily then decides to leave him, and Walden also lets her go, as he knows it is impossible for her to understand him. Later, Bill gets a call from Walden stating that George is not the culprit. Walden explains that in every case, George says that the culprit is a very bad man, even though the accused is a woman, like late nurse Katherine.
Before Bill can say anything, Walden hangs up, and he follows a couple of thugs who are harassing women. He confronts the thugs and tries to stop them. But then… They brutally stab him, while Walden manages to shoot and kill one of the thugs before falling unconscious.
The following day, Bill visits George in his cell and informs him that Walden has been injured. Hearing this, George tells him that he wants to show him something bad. He then leads Sally and Bill to an abandoned building far away from the police station.
Upon arriving, he refuses to enter inside, claiming this place is bad. After Sally puts a handcuff on him, the police proceed to go inside, and are horrified to find this… The skeletons of all the missing Mexican kids are there. After the shocking discovery, Bill explains that George used to play with the victims.
The victims had told him about this place, and that a bad man used to bring them here, and pay them to do some horrible things. Meanwhile, at the hospital, Walden regains consciousness, and his father is emotional to see him. The scene then shifts to three weeks later, when Walden is finally discharged from the hospital and returns to live with his father.
Boyle arrives to check on him and he commends his bravery. Moments later, Walden notices Boyle’s car, and is quite impressed by its features. However, upon inspecting the perfect car, he notices a torn piece of fabric from the backseat, which shocks him.
That night, he loads his gun and seems to be getting ready for something. At Boyle’s house, he surprisingly confronts the judge about the dead kids. Boyle asks how he found out the truth, and Walden says that the torn piece of fabric in his backseat is from Cal’s clothes.
He asks what makes a man want to hurt little kids, and Boyle reveals the disturbing fact that he likes their smell and is attracted to them. He states that he has been doing this since he was 17, and he even used to have a thing for Walden when he was a kid. Boyle then says that he plans to confess everything to the authorities, but our hero doesn’t want him to escape the charges, and he says that it is his responsibility to personally send Boyle to hell.
In the following scene, Walden is at home when Bill and Sally come to visit him. They seem to be aware that Walden was the vigilante they were seeking, though they don't say it clearly. They also inform Walden that he is cleared of the charges of shooting and murdering the thug.
They claim there were 'witnesses' who came forward, stating that Walden only acted in self-defense, and Walden is taken aback by this news, since he knows no one was around during that incident. The following day, the police discover that Boyle has taken his own life in his house. We then see Walden in his typing competition, where he types at a rate of 359 words per minute, which means that he is just two words away from the world record.
In the final scene, he reads again the latest case he wrote about a new suspect who is thought to have killed seven people. The defendant denies all the charges, and the killer will be released on bond while awaiting trial. Walden doesn't have much to say, but he'll see what he can do next.
