As the anniversary of his previous investigation approaches, federal police detective Aaron Falk strives to extract vital information from Alice Russell, a corporate employee who has been exceedingly uncooperative. His efforts are met with an unwavering silence, revealing her steadfast refusal to share any details regarding a money laundering scheme.
The following day, Alice joins a corporate team-building retreat alongside four colleagues: Jill Bailey](/actor/deborralee-furness), her boss; Lauren, a childhood friend; and sisters Brianna and Bethany, who share more than just familial ties. Their expedition into the great outdoors takes a dire turn when they become disoriented in the wilderness after misinterpreting the map.
Meanwhile, back at the precinct, Falk receives a cryptic phone call from Alice that abruptly cuts off. Subsequently, he learns from fellow agent Carmen Cooper that Alice's hiking companions have returned, injured and shaken, while Alice herself is nowhere to be found. As the tension escalates, Falk and Cooper team up to investigate, suspecting that Alice's disappearance may be connected to her role as a whistleblower.
As the investigation unfolds, flashbacks illuminate a haunting parallel between Alice's current dire situation and a traumatic incident from Falk's past. Years ago, during a hiking trip with his father, his mother had similarly gone missing, leading to a frantic search that ultimately revealed her injured and struggling for survival. Her tragic passing serves as a poignant reminder of the devastating consequences that befall those who lose their way.
The search party soon uncovers that Alice's companions have faced their own share of misfortune. Daniel Bailey, Jill's husband and the mastermind behind the money laundering scheme, has mysteriously joined their group and taken Alice away from her friends. As Alice becomes more anxious to leave the retreat, her distress escalates, despite the group’s attempts to remain together.
Meanwhile, Brianna finds herself hospitalized with a severe bite wound from a funnel web spider, disclosing her role in misreading the map due to her hangover, which led the group astray. Lauren suffers an injury while trying to retrieve the lost map from a river, adding to their disorientation. Furthermore, Bethany's confession about her troubled history, which includes a stint in jail for selling her sister’s possessions to feed her drug habit, complicates Alice's feelings of trust toward her companions.
As the chilling mystery deepens and stakes rise, Falk must maneuver through a web of corporate deceit, navigate his personal demons, and confront the dark forces that once caused his mother to go missing.
The group's journey takes a tumultuous turn when Jill's anger ignites upon discovering that Alice had deliberately led them off course, which results in a fierce confrontation. The next day, they stumble upon an abandoned cabin that they decide to use as a refuge for the night, ignoring Alice's intense objections. Little do they know, the shadows outside conceal sinister secrets, and their discovery of a dog grave sends Alice spiraling into terror, warning her teammates that they are on the ground of a notorious serial killer's hunting grounds. However, her fears are dismissed, regarded as mere paranoia.
Meanwhile, Falk’s investigative acumen is sparked by a seemingly trivial detail—the mention of bats from earlier discussions—which he utilizes to deduce the cabin's location. Upon arrival, he is devastated to find Alice’s lifeless body alongside a disturbed spider web, implicating Brianna as the potential culprit. In a moment of desperate confessions, Brianna reveals that she had found Alice’s body and hidden it out of fear that Bethany would be imprisoned again, having stumbled upon Alice accidentally while trying to conceal the evidence.
As Falk unravels the tangled deceit further, he uncovers an ongoing conflict between Lauren's daughter and Alice's daughter, who has been relentlessly bullied for years. When he confronts Lauren with his findings, she confesses her growing frustrations with Alice for ignoring her child's plight, leading to a dramatic confrontation. This results in Alice taking a fall that leaves her unconscious after hitting her head against a rock.
Assuming Alice is merely dazed, Lauren leaves to return to the cabin, only to discover that Alice is missing—kidnapped by Brianna in a frantic bid to shield her. Convincing Lauren to confess, Falk tries to intervene, but ends up rescuing her from a waterfall.
As law enforcement takes Brianna and Lauren into custody, Bethany divulges to Falk that Daniel had wrongly believed her to be the whistleblower instead of Alice, who had been protecting her all along. With this vital reveal, Bethany hands over the pivotal thumb drive containing critical evidence against Daniel's money laundering operation, promising that justice will finally prevail for his nefarious deeds.
