Nine Miles Down

Jackmann arrives at the Jevel Afra Drill site amid a raging sandstorm. The remote station feels deserted and quiet, with none of the 25 staff heard from in days. He begins documenting the scene, looking for signs of what happened.

The facility is found abandoned, showing signs of a struggle. Cryptic messages in blood, written in Arabic, cover the walls, and a jackal sacrifice is discovered. Jack sends photos back to be translated for clues.

Jack reviews video recordings and learns that Borman established the dig to investigate a newly detected air pocket nine miles beneath the surface. The crew begins to exhibit paranoia and odd behavior as the search continues. He experiences a vivid hallucination while trying to sleep in his vehicle.

By morning the storm has cleared and JC is the lone remaining scientist. She explains that Borman was murdered by the chief geologist and stored in the refrigeration unit, along with Dr. Varga, who died of a heart attack. Jack reports the deaths to GNE, but Caswell orders him to stay put in case anyone returns.

JC is anxious to leave, and Jack grows suspicious, having not seen her in videos or crew photos. Kat later reveals that Dr. Ivanoff was alive and JC did not appear on the crew roster. JC claims budget constraints prevented gender-segregated quarters, leading Borman to falsify information.

Audio sensors detect high-pitched screams from inside the cavity six days earlier, triggering fear among the crew. Paranoia spreads as hallucinatory fears take hold. Jack himself begins to doubt reality and experiences mounting unease.

The two scientists grow closer as they watch the desert sunset and share a birthday dinner for Jack. They exchange personal traumas, including Jack's confession about his wife’s suicide that ended his police career. Their bond deepens as they abandon caution and grow intimate.

Jack’s nightmares intensify as he suspects JC might not be human. He arms himself and discovers human remains in the site’s cesspit, triggering a confrontation in the shower where JC fends him off. He flees to Borman’s office, sealing himself inside.

A hidden recording reveals Professor Borman feverishly claiming that the Devil himself has been released. JC plays along with Jack’s delusions, adopting a seductive Satanic persona to persuade him to sell his soul. He resists and ultimately wounds her with a screwdriver.

Jack sets the facility on fire after wounding JC, and a GNE rescue team arrives to subdue him. The two are evacuated by helicopter just as the station erupts into flames and collapses around them.

Caswell and Inspector Khaled accompany JC to the hospital, where they explain that Ivanoff’s sample shows a toxic gas released from the underground cavity. Inhaling it caused the afflicted to blur reality, memory, and imagination. JC was less affected due to her separated quarters.

The remaining scientists are missing and presumed dead, scattered into the desert. Jack’s paranoia resurfaces as he steals a handgun and tries to kill JC, only to be stopped by Alex. In his final state of despair, he contemplates suicide while the memory of his dead wife echoes his loneliness.