Based on larger-than-life true events, "Silk Road" focuses on the young, affluent and highly motivated entrepreneur Ross Ulbricht (Nick Robinson), whose ambitious goal is to launch the Internet's first completely anonymous and unregulated marketplace. With Ulbricht's passion for the possibilities his invention offers the world, his site -- the Silk Road -- becomes the world's fastest-growing drug market, catching the focus of disgraced DEA agent Rick Bowden (Jason Clarke).

A dinosaur with a habit for substance abuse and blowing cases, Bowden once had street savvy in dark corners but is unprepared for the dark web as he struggles through tutorials on how to use the Internet. As both men's private lives erode, with Bowden in over his head and Ross' growing paranoia driving unthinkable choices, they cling to their jobs in an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse that have both asking how far their idealism can take them.