Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Barber Benjamin Barker arrives in London accompanied by the young sailor Anthony Hope. The story uses a flashback to show that fifteen years earlier he was falsely convicted and exiled to Australia by Judge Turpin, who coveted Barker's wife Lucy. Barker adopts the alias Sweeney Todd and makes his way back to Fleet Street to seek revenge.

A flashback reveals Barker's fifteen-year past. He was unjustly convicted and exiled to Australia after Turpin schemes against him. Turpin lusted after Barker's wife Lucy, who was driven to suicide after Turpin's abuse; Johanna becomes Turpin's ward.

Barker returns to his old world on Fleet Street and reopens his barber shop above Nellie Lovett's pie shop. He senses the path to revenge as he resumes his trade. The act sets in motion a partnership of crime with Lovett.

Mrs. Lovett explains that Turpin assaulted Lucy and drove her to suicide, and she reveals the existence of Barker and Lucy's daughter Johanna under Turpin's ward. This revelation deepens Barker's resolve for revenge. The two consider their future collaboration.

Adolfo Pirelli is publicly humiliated by Todd in front of Bamford and is later revealed to be Barker's former apprentice. The confrontation exposes the bitter rivalry between the barber and his rival. The moment marks the start of Todd's ruthless plan.

Pirelli attempts to blackmail Barker after the humiliation; Barker kills him in a fit of rage. Lovett is shocked but accepts Barker's justification, and she forms a bond with the downtrodden Toby Ragg, whom she adopts as a surrogate son. The murder cements the couple's criminal alliance.

Judge Turpin visits Todd's shop to plan a marriage between Turpin and Johanna. Anthony bursts in, accidentally revealing the elopement plan. Turpin storms out and has Johanna committed to a madhouse, leaving Barker convinced that his wife is truly lost.

With his revenge appetite unleashed, Todd seduces Lovett into becoming his partner in crime. She proposes baking Todd's victims into pies, while he rigs his barber chair with a trapdoor to drop bodies into her bakehouse. Anthony continues to search for Johanna.

As the pair prosper, Lovett bonds with Toby Ragg and introduces him to their plans. Toby grows wary of Todd and is eventually locked in the basement after discovering Pirelli's purse. The tension foreshadows a coming collapse.

Beadle Bamford arrives to inspect reports of the foul chimney stink. Todd tricks Bamford and murders him, cementing his fearsome reputation. Lovett contemplates the future as their business booms.

A beggar woman enters the shop in search of Bamford; Johanna hides in a trunk. The woman recognizes Todd, prompting a tense confrontation when Turpin arrives. Todd kills the woman and discards her through the trapdoor.

Turpin arrives and Barker reveals his true identity as Benjamin Barker. He slashes Turpin's throat and drops him into the bakehouse. The beggar woman is revealed to be Barker's wife Lucy, not dead as Lovett claimed.

Realizing that Lucy is alive and is Barker's wife, he rejects Lovett's deception. He hurls Mrs. Lovett into the oven, sealing her fate as Lucy looks on. The tragedy escalates as Toby finally appears.

Toby reappears and slits Todd's throat with his own razor, killing him as Lucy mourns. The barber's reign of terror ends in a blaze of tragedy, with the living caught in a cycle of vengeance.