In 2012, Louisiana State Police Detectives Rust Cohle and Martin Hart are brought in to revisit a homicide case they worked in 1995. As the inquiry unfolds in present day through separate interrogations, the two former detectives narrate the story of their investigation, reopening unhealed wounds, and drawing into question their supposed solving of a bizarre ritualistic murder in 1995.

A psychological thriller about two detectives on the trail of a serial killer who chooses his victims according to the seven deadly sins.

Jean-Baptiste Grenouille is born under his mother's table at the fish market, onto a pile of muddy fish guts, establishing from the beginning his repulsion for putrid scents. A childhood of neglect and, later, a job at a tannery encourage Jean-Baptiste to develop his olfactory sense rather than his verbal skills. An opportunity to prove his worth to Parisian perfumist Giuseppe Baldini results in his immediate hire into a promising new career. His...