When police officers arrive at his home to tell him that he's under "open arrest," unassuming bureaucrat Josef K. (Anthony Perkins) can't imagine what kind of crime he might have committed. He consults first his neighbor (Jeanne Moreau) about the incident, then the courts, then a pompous law advocate (Orson Welles), all to no avail. Ironically, Joseph is able to learn of his sentence -- he is to be put to death -- but the nature of the charge against him remains elusive.