根據美國作家楚曼卡波堤著名的報導文學拍攝而成。導演理查．布魯克斯採取黑白紀錄片式的紀實手法，忠實地觀察兩名冷血罪犯勞勃布萊克及斯科特．威爾森如何在一個堪薩斯州的農家犯下冷血的滅門血案，一直拍到兩人被警方逮捕直至處刑為止，可以說是一個極其詳盡和細膩的犯罪個案紀錄。由於全片風格高度寫實而冷峻，讓觀眾有身臨現場的感覺，氣氛的緊湊驚心令人不寒而慄，在情緒上亦會受到強烈的撞擊。

The triumphs and failures of middle age as seen through the eyes of runaway American housewife Mary Wilson, a woman who believes that ultimate reality exists above and beyond the routine procedures of conscious, uninspired, everyday life. She feels cheated by an older generation that taught her to settle for nothing less than storybook finales, people who are disillusioned and restless and don't know why, people for whom life holds no easy answers.