Sam Carlson [Noomi Rapace] is a skilled close protection officer stationed on a routine assignment in South Sudan, where she proves her mettle by saving two journalists under attack from local insurgents. Her calm, decisive action under fire sets the tone for a story where loyalty, survival, and hidden motives intertwine. As the dust settles, Zoe Tanner [Sophie Nélisse], the troubled heir to the late Eric Tanner and owner of a vast stake in Hassine Mining, learns that she has inherited all of her father’s shares. This revelation, coming on the heels of a recent billion-dollar deal in Zambia that Rima Hassine [Indira Varma], Zoe’s stepmother and the company’s CEO, has already secured, heightens the tension within the family business. Rima’s ascent has not come without resistance, and her hold on the company’s future sits on a knife-edge as Zoe processes the shock of her new reality and the anger she feels toward the woman who would control not only the family fortune but the keys to her own destiny.
Rima, determined to safeguard the inheritance and cement her influence, insists that Zoe accompany her to the family fortification in Morocco so she can oversee the final stages of the mining venture. To ensure Zoe’s safety on this volatile journey, she hires Sam to act as her bodyguard, a decision that weighs heavily on Sam given that her previous assignment ended with the protection of a married colleague who betrayed the strict boundaries of their professional relationship. The two women travel to a fortified kasbah where the sun-baked walls and security systems project an aura of impregnable control. Yet the serenity is short-lived. Zoe’s demand that Sam stay with her throughout the trip—and even sleep in the same safehouse—triggers a cascade of breaches that will test every rule they’ve relied on.
Late that night, the property’s defenses falter. The security system is breached, and heavily armed intruders cut through the guard detail, cutting a swath through the staff as they advance toward Zoe’s room. The assault is brutal and efficient: the head of security falls, and the intruders push onward with a chilling focus. As chaos erupts, Zoe and Sam are forced to flee. In the ensuing escape through the winding corridors, Alik [Akin Gazi], the former head of security, is killed in the line of duty, leaving Sam and Zoe to improvise their way out of the trap. They manage to break away from the initial ambush and stumble into Casablanca, where a police response seems to promise help, but the situation quickly reveals itself as far more treacherous than it appears. A tense confrontation unfolds as Zoe, who speaks Arabic, overhears a troubling exchange about private addresses and money, and Sam’s attempt to de-escalate leads to a dangerous moment in which Zoe must fire a warning shot with Sam’s sidearm. The pair escape on foot into the city, seeking refuge in a hotel as the stock market trembles and the Hassine Mining deal hangs in the balance.
With the city’s shadows gathering, Sam and Zoe regroup with Conall Sinclair [Eoin Macken], Sam’s former lover and the boss who was supposed to oversee Zoe’s protection from a distance. The trio formulates a plan to slip out of the country together: Tangier, then a ferry to Spain. But their escape route is blocked in a brutal blow when Conall is killed during another ambush at the hotel. Sam’s experience and combat instincts come to the fore as she fights off two assailants to save Zoe from capture. The city’s maze becomes a proving ground for both women, testing their resolve and their willingness to risk everything for a chance at safety.
The story shifts to the Hassine Mining headquarters, where Sam and Zoe witness a troubling scene: Rima in the car park with one of the hotel’s attackers, an ominous sign that not all players in this game are who they appear to be. A chase leads them to a marina, where a confrontation reveals a deeper layer of complicity. In a brutal moment of improvisation, Sam dispatches the attacker with a fishing hook, a stark reminder of how close to the edge they are operating. A careful look through the attacker’s wallet reveals that he is a police officer who held Rima’s login details for the house’s security system, exposing a web of manipulation that extends far beyond a single corporation or crime scene.
Inside Hassine Mining’s conference room, a tense meeting to finalize the deal unfolds, but the atmosphere crackles with danger as a member of Sikong, Hassine’s rival company, threatens Zoe and the stability of the arrangement. The tension heightens as Sam and Zoe return to the abandoned safehouse, where Zoe learns a past detail that changes how she sees Sam: Sam once had a child whom she gave up for adoption at sixteen. This revelation adds a personal layer to their already precarious bond, and it deepens Zoe’s empathy for her protector even as external threats tighten their grip.
Rima, meanwhile, is watching every move. She receives a notification that the house’s security system has been accessed, an intrusion that grows into a full-blown siege. Corrupt police officers and mercenaries close in, preventing a Casablanca detective allied with Rima from entering and resolving the situation. In a dramatic turn, Rima arrives by helicopter, revealing that she has been maneuvered into a trap of blackmail by Sikong. The attackers strike hard, but Sam and Zoe intervene once more, driving back the danger and saving Rima from ruin. Sam sustains a wrist injury in the process, yet the two women—now fully cognizant of the stakes—ensure that Rima and Zoe are safe as the immediate threat subsides.
In the end, with the threat neutralized and the shadowy forces behind the attack unmasked, Sam steps back from the dangerous pursuit but remains committed to Zoe’s future. She heads home with a hopeful promise to keep in contact and to reach out to Zoe’s daughter when the time is right. The film closes on a note of resilience and guarded optimism, underscoring themes of loyalty, the costs of power, and the fragile boundaries between personal and professional obligations.
If you’re browsing for the key players, you’ll notice how the story threads together Sam Carlson [Noomi Rapace], Zoe Tanner [Sophie Nélisse], Rima Hassine [Indira Varma], Conall Sinclair [Eoin Macken], and Alik [Akin Gazi] as pivotal figures who drive the action, each bringing their own strengths and secrets to a tense, globe-trotting thriller. The interplay between these characters—set against corporate intrigue, political corruption, and high-stakes risk—creates a layered narrative where every decision could alter the balance of power and the course of lives caught in the crossfire.
