In Victorian-era Gotham City, Bruce Greenwood as Batman saves a wealthy couple from a bold robbery carried out by three orphans: Dickie, Lincoln Melcher, Jason, Grey DeLisle, and Timmy, and fends off their abusive keeper, Big Bill Dust. At the same time, Ivy, an orphan who has become an exotic dancer and prostitute, falls victim to Jack the Ripper, the ruthless killer who preys on Gotham’s poorest women. Rumors sweep through the city that Batman and Jack are the same person, sowing fear and intrigue among the citizens. Selina Kyle, Jennifer Carpenter, a renowned local actress, confronts Gotham’s top cops—the Police Commissioner James Gordon and Chief Harvey Bullock—for failing to stop the Ripper’s rampage.
At the Monarch Theatre, Bruce attends a night out with his friend, District Attorney Harvey Dent, Yuri Lowenthal, and he meets Selina again, their bond growing at the exclusive Dionysus Club. Bruce begins to decipher a grim connection: not only were he and Selina raised by Sister Leslie, Grey DeLisle, but several murdered girls had also fallen under Leslie’s care. He surmises the Ripper’s target will soon be Leslie herself, and rushes to warn or protect her but arrives too late. A bloody clue—the Dionysus Club pin—tells him the killer must be among Gotham’s wealthy set. At Sister Leslie’s funeral, Bruce is confronted by psychiatrist Hugo Strange, William Salyers, who claims he holds crucial knowledge about the killer and wants to meet Batman. Bruce also encounters Marlene, Tara Strong, a drunken elder who swears she saw suspicious activity around the time of Leslie’s death.
Arkham Asylum becomes a crime scene as the Ripper ambushes Strange and pummels him into madness among his own patients, who tear him apart. In his pursuit of the Ripper, Batman is briefly pursued by law enforcement but is rescued by a masked Selina. After realizing Batman is Bruce, she leads him to her home, where they share a tense, intimate night. The investigation takes a grim turn when Marlene is found dead; Bruce is arrested, and Dent—jealous of Selina’s involvement with Bruce—prosecutes him as the Ripper. He is sent to Blackgate Penitentiary, where Selina urges him to reveal his identity as Batman to clear his name and to help save the remaining victims. Refusing, he finds an ally in Selina, who decides to inform Gordon herself. A coded message is delivered to Bruce’s manor with the help of a guard, and Bruce escapes by staging a prison brawl.
Selina then confronts Gordon at the Gotham City World’s Fair, only to discover the horrifying truth: he is the Ripper. While Bruce hunts Selina at Gordon’s home, he learns the same fact. Gordon drugs Selina to keep her quiet, but she remains conscious long enough to signal Batman with her blood on a searchlight. Batman arrives just in time and battles Gordon on a Ferris wheel. Gordon, haunted by Civil War memories and driven to madness, proclaims his own “holy work” to purge Gotham of what he deems human filth. > "holy work" is to rid Gotham from what he sees as human filth. The Ferris wheel erupts in flames and collapses as Batman defeats Gordon, who then chooses suicide over capture. In the end, Batman and Selina are saved by Alfred and the orphans, who have become Bruce Wayne’s wards, offering a glimmer of hope for Gotham’s battered streets.
