When brutal landowner Fyodor Karamazov is murdered, the lives of his sons are changed irrevocably: Mitya, the sensualist, whose bitter rivalry with his father immediately places him under suspicion for parricide; Ivan, the intellectual, whose mental tortures drive him to breakdown; the spiritual Alyosha, who tries to heal the familys rifts; and the shadowy figure of their bastard half-brother Smerdyakov.
As the ensuing investigation and trial reveal the true identity of the murderer, Dostoyevskys dark masterpiece evokes a world where the lines between innocence and corruption, good and evil, blur and everyones faith in humanity is tested.