Bad Lieutenant follows a deeply corrupt and self-destructive New York City police officer, played by Harvey Keitel, as he sinks into addiction, gambling debts, and moral depravity. When assigned to investigate the brutal rape of a nun, he becomes obsessed with her extraordinary act of forgiveness, forcing him to confront his own sins. The film is a raw, unflinching portrait of guilt, redemption, and spiritual crisis.
Ferrara films Harvey Keitel's cop falling through every floor of his own soul. The void is sanctified at the end, but the path was real, and the path is the film.