The real story behind the creation of the Comando Vermelho (Red Commando), the powerful criminal organization that terrorized Rio de Janeiro for several decades. The movie follows William, who is sent to a notorious prison island during the military regime, and there he befriends other criminal people like him and also many political prisoners of the place, full of ideologies and demanding better conditions in the place. Soon, what started as a movement dealing with improvements behind bars became a violent group that escalated outside of prison, with members involved in criminal acts, robberies, murders and spectacular jailbreaks.