Jerry Lundergaard (William H. Macy) arranges for his wife to be kidnapped in the hope that splitting the ransom with the kidnappers (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare) will enable him to finance a new business venture. When one of the kidnappers goes off the rails and events career out of control, it falls to Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) Chief of the Brainerd Police Department, to set things right.