Red Light 1949

Nick Cherney, a bookkeeper, is sent to jail for embezzling from Johnny Torno’s trucking company. One week before his release, he watches a newsreel showing Johnny Torno welcoming home his heroic brother, Fr. Jess Torno, a Catholic chaplain who has just returned from a World War II prisoner-of-war camp. Fueled by a vengeful plan, Nick enlists a fellow inmate about to be freed, Rocky, to murder [Fr. Jess Torno].

Johnny arrives soon after the grim hit, and with Jess dead, he becomes a focused investigator, convinced that the key to the crime lies in the hotel room where Jess once stayed. He learns that a Gideon Bible, a supposed clue, was once in that room but is now nowhere to be found. The case tightens its grip on him as he drives a private inquiry, sensing that someone who stayed in the room knows more than they’ve admitted. To help him, he brings in Carla North, Carla North, a woman who lost her brother in the war and who has a personal stake in the mystery. She moves into Johnny’s world, living in his luxury apartment while he works out of his office, and together they begin to connect the dots.

As Johnny follows leads, tension with the police rises, and a dangerous game unfolds. Rocky is spotted, and Johnny phases in a trap that forces Rocky to flee after he’s wounded. The pursuit shows how far Nick will go to bury the truth, and when Rocky tries to pressure Nick, Nick reacts with violence and shoves the other man off a train. A hotel clerk later reveals that a man who knew Nick had spoken to him, and Nick deduces who that man is. He then murders Warni Hazard, an action he quietly passes off as an accident.

Driven by a singular obsession, Johnny pushes Carla to locate Pablo Cabrillo, a veteran who was blinded in the war. He believes Cabrillo can provide a final link to the Bible that may crack the case. Carla, weary of the chase and the way Johnny’s obsession has spiraled, resists the relentless hunt but ultimately agrees to help. Cabrillo, who has kept the Bible close since the war, explains that he took the book with him because of its significance and his desire not to be a burden to his family. He also reveals that a young woman had taken the Bible not long before, which only deepens the mystery.

Meanwhile, Johnny’s moral compass frays as he confronts the consequences of his pursuit. He visits a church and, in a moment of rage, punches a stained-glass window he had once donated to commemorate Jess’ safe return from the war. Realizing the damage he’s caused, he tries to make amends by writing a check to replace the window, and then he learns that Carla has checked into a hotel. Nick persists in the hunt for Carla, and he eventually arrives at Johnny’s office, where she brings the Bible into view and the police close in on him.

When Carla hands Johnny the Bible, the pages reveal a turning point: rather than pointing to the killer, the text shows that Jess had circled a verse—Romans 12:19—and left a plea not to seek vengeance. Johnny’s initial anger softens into contemplation as Carla asks him to reread the message and consider his brother’s final instruction. Nick, believing he has dodged the worst, is suddenly confronted by Rocky in the lobby. A gunfight erupts, and Rocky falls, revealing that Nick paid for Jess’ murder. Nick uses the confrontation to force Johnny and the police to witness his confession.

Pursued by both Johnny and the authorities, Nick races onto the roof, trying to gain a final advantage. He has a clear shot at Johnny but is out of bullets, and Johnny steadies himself, choosing not to fulfill the debt of vengeance in the way his brother warned. Nick descends the neon sign of Torno’s trucking company, attempting to escape, but a misstep on the power supply sends him to a fatal electrocution. Carla, convinced that Johnny might have killed Nick, confronts him, only to learn from the police that Nick’s belief in a different case was misguided. The officer’s final line makes it clear that Jess’s belief—that someone else was on the case and watching over it—proved to be the truth, leaving Johnny to contend with the burden of responsibility and the fragile line between justice and mercy.