Detective Sam Hodiak of the LAPD served his country during World War II, and now protects his city in the late 1960s. When an old flame, Grace Karn, tells him that her daughter Emma has gone missing, he jumps to action. He finds Emma living with a group of hippies led by a dirty, slight, but violent figure named Charles Manson. As he digs deeper to try and pull her out, Hodiak’s suit-and-tie worldview is attacked by the same peace-and-love mantra that is challenging institutions across America.