Michael Clayton, an elite New York specialist, works on one of the most prominent law firms. For 15 years, he has been committed to protecting the interests of wealthy clients of the firm. It would seem that he can turn any situation favorable to his client's way, for which he has been for a long time is nicknamed "Cleaner". But suddenly his career gets a fracture. The company, which had employed Clayton for 6 years protects the interests of a chemical company U/North. Surprisingly, in this case there are new hard-hitting evidence and one of the employees of the law firm, as well as a close friend of Clayton's, steals a folder with documents and goes over to the prosecutors. Clayton now needs to understand which side to take and how long it is allowed to be in the game at all.