Five Star Final

Joseph W. Randall, the managing editor, is trying to legitimize the Gazette by reducing sensationalism and improving reporting. Owner Bernard Hinchecliffe plans a retrospective series on a 20-year-old murder to revive the scandal and boost sales. Randall reluctantly agrees to pursue the revived case as the centerpiece of the paper's revival.

Hinchecliffe's plan to mine the Nancy Voorhees murder for a fresh readership prompts Randall to commit to the project. The revived investigation is framed as a legitimate feature rather than a simple sensational piece. Randall's reluctance gives way to a sense of duty to the newsroom and its finances.

Twenty years earlier, Nancy Voorhees, a stenographer, shot her boss after he reneged on his promise to marry her. Her unexpected pregnancy swayed the jury and led to her acquittal. The backstory of the murder remains a haunting motive for the present investigation.

In the present, Nancy is married to Michael Townsend and their daughter Jenny believes Townsend is her father. Jenny is poised to marry Philip Weeks, the son of a socially prominent family, which raises the stakes for the scandal. The family is hoping to shield themselves from renewed exposure.

Randall assigns Reverend T. Vernon Isopod to dig up dirt on Nancy. Isopod masquerades as a minister and wins the confidence of the bride's parents, who mistakenly treat him as a church representative. They provide him with a photo of Jenny, escalating the potential for manipulation.

Randall's secretary Miss Taylor becomes disgusted with the affair and gets drunk at a local speakeasy. She bluntly shares her thoughts with Randall, revealing how far the newsroom has strayed in the pursuit of headlines. Her outburst foreshadows the ethical cracks behind the investigation.

Isopod arrives late, drunk and brimming with information, feeding Randall fresh angles for the story. Randall creates a new photo-heavy layout that sensationalizes the revival. The newsroom buzzes with the prospect of a renewed scandal.

Randall dispatches Ziggie and Carmody to cover the Townsend apartment as the family tries to manage the fallout. The Townsends, fearing exposure, make separate appeals for help to derail the exposé. Mr. Townsend even visits the church rector, who promises support while Nancy phones Randall begging him to drop the story.

Nancy ultimately kills herself by poison, horrified by the renewed interest in the scandal. Michael Townsend returns home to find her body in the bathroom, collapsing the fragile façade of the marriage. The family is devastated as the consequences of the revived story become deadly real.

After discovering Nancy's body, Michael Townsend enters the bathroom and kills himself. Carmody and Ziggie climb into the apartment from the fire escape, photograph the deaths, and relay the scoop to Randall for the five-star final. The grim sequence seals the human cost of the paper's pursuit.

The next day, Phillip's parents tell Jenny that the wedding will be called off. Phillip arrives and defies them, signaling that the truth of the scandal may be harder to bury than they hope. The social pressure surrounding the wedding intensifies the crisis.

Randall becomes drunk and feels like a murderer as the newsroom debates whether to publish. Jenny visits the paper to demand answers about why her mother was killed, and Randall admits they were harmed for circulation. She pulls a gun, but Phillip arrives in time to stop her, delivering a chilling warning about retaliation.

Randall denounces Hinchecliffe and resigns from the Gazette. He rushes out, with Miss Taylor in tow, abandoning the paper to its own devices. A final image shows a copy of the Gazette trumpeting the suicide victims’ burial, blowing away in the rain.

The scene closes on the rain-soaked streets as the front page about the suicides is swept away, underscoring the collapse of the sensational machine. The town is left to grapple with the cost of its fixation on scandal and murder.