January 1977. Utah State Prison. Double-murderer Gary Gilmore is about to become the first convicted killer in a decade to be executed on U.S. soil. Awaiting his fate on death row, Gilmore agrees to a one-time only visit from Mikal, the younger he barely remembers. Piecing together fragments of their shared past- born of a brutal father, raised in a family haunted by death, religion and superstition- Mikal searches for a reason to appeal against the execution or to accept that the moment of blood atonement has arrived.

Meanwhile, the killer's twisted celebrity, fuelled by a media frenzy, has the eyes of the world looking on. Based on Mikal Gilmore's award winning book, 'Shot In The Heart' is the harrowing expose of a cold-blooded killer: A journey to the darkside of a mind tortured by the sins and secrets of his past.