Glasgow, 1972, and Michael Mitchell is ambitious, talented and determined to succeed. A series of unjust setbacks to his career convinces him that he will never realise his goals in life unless he plays by a different set of rules.
He partners with a small-time crook to help the Glasgow underworld launder the proceeds from their crimes. As the operation grows, Michael is forced to become more and more ruthless to protect what he has built up.
Shocked by who he has become, he vows to leave the criminal world behind him to start a new life; respectable and honest. But the past has a way of catching up with him. Finally, he gambles everything on one last desperate attempt to break free.