In the early 1960s, after their attempts on President de Gaulle have failed, the leaders of the OAS, the underground army of French diehards opposed to Algerian independence, hire a nameless English professional to kill him. Code-named the Jackal, he gathers false passports and a custom-built rifle, while in Paris the quiet, dogged detective Claude Lebel is given sweeping powers to find a man nobody can name.