In Northern Michigan a young woman goes into a photo booth to have her photo taken. Moments later she is kidnapped and her boyfriend is murdered. The shop assistant goes to check the photos she left behind and discovers that the pictures aren't of her smiling face, but of a woman screaming in terror.

Mulder and Scully come in to investigate when the photos intrigue Mulder. Mulder believes that they are a case of psychic photography, an ability that few people have which allows them to create pictures on films with their minds. Mulder interprets this as meaning that the killer does not know he has this gift. Scully tries hard to find a logical explanation but is really lost for words.

The young woman who was kidnapped is located but she is brain-dead after the killer gave her an amateur lobotomy with an ice pick inserted through her eyes. She also keeps repeating the German word for 'unrest', 'unruhe'. Meanwhile, the kidnapper kills again.

After investigating, Scully finds that the same construction company was located near each crime scene so while Mulder continues investigating, Scully goes to check it out. She interviews the foreman, Gerry Schnauz and suddenly when Scully mentions the word 'unruhe' to him, he gives a terrified reaction. This prompts Scully to arrest him as he is now obviously the main suspect. Taken into custody, Schnauz is found to have a history of violence and was committed once for being a paranoid schizoprenic. When Scully shows him the photos, he is astounded by how his thoughts were transferred to the film and admits to the crimes telling Scully where to find the latest victim who is also found dead and lobotomized.

While left on his own, Schnauz kills a guard and escapes to the scene of the first crime he committed and steals the film and camera. When Mulder returns to where Schnauz is, he finds that a new victim is shown on the photos which was put there by the killer's mind, a terrifying picture of Scully! Mulder is distraught and now must locate the killer by trying to get into his mind.

Scully, held hostage, tries to talk Schnauz out of killing Scully but she won't be able to pull it off for long. Mulder manages to locate Schnauz just in time to kill him before he can do the same to Scully. Lying dead on the floor, Schnauz's thoughts are for the last time shown on the film, a picture of himself shot dead on the floor.