Plot
In December 1999, Los Angeles has become a dangerous war zone. As a group of criminals rob a Chinese restaurant, the event is recorded by a robber wearing a 'SQUID', or "Superconducting Quantum Interference Device", which records events directly from the wearer's cerebral cortex, and when played back through a MiniDisc-like device allow a user to experience the recorder's memory.
Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) is a former LAPD officer turned black marketeer who deals in bootleg SQUID recordings. His main supplier, Tick (Richard Edson), tries to sell the robbery clip to him. Lenny eventually agrees to buy it at a reduced price.
Meanwhile, a call girl named Iris (Brigitte Bako) is being chased by two police officers as she flees to the subway. As the train departs, one of the officers shatters a window and grabs Iris; her wig is pulled off, revealing a SQUID recorder headset.
Lenny pines for his ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis), while relying on his two best friends, bodyguard Lornette "Mace" Mason (Angela Bassett) and private investigator Max Peltier (Tom Sizemore), for emotional support. Mace has unrequited feelings for Lenny and disapproves of his SQUID-dealing business. While the three are drinking together at a bar, Iris arrives, drops a disc through the sunroof of Lenny's car and flees when she sees police nearby. Lenny's car is towed away before Lenny can find the disc.
Hours later, Lenny receives a "blackjack" (snuff) SQUID from an anonymous sender, and watches Iris gets raped and killed. Lenny tries to get Faith away from her new boyfriend, music industry mogul Philo Gant (Michael Wincott), but to no avail.
Lenny later receives more snuff tapes. He and Mace discover that the deaths are tied to a cover-up of the murder of rapper Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer) and one of his band mates by two renegade LAPD officers. As they are hunted by the two policemen, Burton Steckler and Dwayne Engelman (Vincent D'Onofrio and William Fichtner), Lenny discovers that Iris witnessed the murders.
Lenny, Mace, and Max discover that Tick has been rendered brain-dead from exposure to highly amplified SQUID recordings. Lenny concludes that the assault on Tick was committed by the same person that killed Iris and fears Faith will be next.
Lenny and Mace confront Faith about the truth behind Jeriko's death. Faith mentions that Philo has been monitoring his inner circle. Philo hired Iris to spy on him. Lenny convinces Faith to escape with them, but Philo's henchmen stop them.
As midnight approaches, Lenny and Mace sneak into a private New Year's party at the Bonaventure Hotel that Philo is hosting for the city's wealthy elite. Lenny gives the disk to Mace so she can deliver it to Deputy Police Commissioner Palmer Strickland (Josef Sommer). Upon entering Philo's penthouse suite, Lenny finds another SQUID disk which shows Faith apparently being raped and killed. Lenny finds a body covered in bedsheets and pulls the sheets aside to find Philo, whose brain has been overwhelmed in the same manner as Tick's. Lenny discovers the killer is Max. He only pretended to kill Faith and it becomes apparent that the two have become lovers. In the clip, Philo enters the room and Max forces him to run the amplified recording. Max and Faith enter the room. Max disarms Lenny and shoots Philo with Lenny's gun, explaining that he set Philo up because he wanted to have Faith killed for what she knew about Jeriko One's death, and that he now intends to frame Lenny for Philo's murder. Faith has a change of heart and attacks Max. Lenny manages to throw Max off the balcony.
Outside the hotel, Mace is pursued by Steckler and Engelman. She manages to subdue both of them, cuffing them to a scaffold, only for other nearby police officers to brutally beat her, triggering a riot in the crowd. Commissioner Strickland appears, restores order, and orders the two officers arrested. Engelman grabs a pistol from one of the officers and commits suicide, and Steckler is gunned down by the police when he tries to shoot Mace. Faith is arrested for Philo's murder. Lenny and Mace share a passionate kiss.
Read more about this topic: Strange Days (film)
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