Small time surveillance man Tom Welles (Cage) finds himself drawn into the terrifying world of snuff movies when he's asked to identify a young girl apparently being tortured and murdered on film. Pretty soon Welles is on a downward spiral into the sleazy sex industry, growing ever more detached from his family and reality in general. The vile subject matter is handled with admirable restraint, but this is still a disturbing, though excellent, voyage into the darker side of life.