A snowboarder Shawn Carter at a Canadian ski lodge is enjoying the slopes when he finds himself in an unfamiliar, isolated forest area. He tries to retrace his path, but he is stalked and killed by a towering predator hidden among the snow-laden trees.
A few days later, wildlife researcher Jim Harwood and his resentful daughter Emmy Harwood, joined by his field team Rob and Marci, arrive at the lodge to study the annual patterns of the Canadian lynx. Their arrival coincides with a troubling absence: the lynxes in the area seem to be missing, prompting them to set up cameras to monitor any wildlife activity. A lone traveler by the roadside is dragged into danger and killed by the same mysterious predator, a threat that will soon be identified as the Snow Beast. Local ranger Barry begins tracking the disappearances, hinting at a broader danger lurking in the woods.
As Jim, Emmy, Rob, and Marci survey the forest for signs, they discover enormous snowy footprints near a camera and feel the sting of unease. They return to their cabin, but the footage yields few clear answers. That night, a menacing growl rattles the walls, and dawn reveals a destroyed snowmobile outside. Marci reports the attack to the ranger station, while Ranger Barry logs the increasing cluster of disappearances. Ranger Gibbons remains skeptical that any wild beast is involved, treating the events as a troubling but explainable anomaly.
Delving into the remote camera feeds, Rob notices one camera has gone down. He and Jim push out on the remaining snowmobile with a tranquilizer gun, while Emmy stays behind, monitoring the cameras and speaking to them via walkie-talkie. In the meantime, Rangers Barry and Gibbons head into the woods to search for the culprit, but the team is soon caught in a deadly ambush set by the beast. Rob and Jim elsewhere manage to repair the downed camera with Emmy’s help, and they stumble into a hidden cavern carved into the ice. They recover the body of the missing snowboarder and hurry back, only to be pursued by the beast as they flee on the snowmobile.
That night, Jim decides they will all leave at first light after reporting the snowboarder’s body. Marci, disagreeing, sneaks out at dawn with a tranquilizer gun and a camera, driving Jim’s truck toward the forest. She encounters the beast in the act of feeding and is violently struck against the hood of the truck, dying and badly damaging the vehicle. When the others wake, Jim notices Marci’s gear is missing and heads off alone to search for her. Emmy radios him after spotting the beast dragging Marci’s body through the snow, spurring Jim into direct confrontation.
Emmy tries to convince Rob to assist in finding her father, but night has fallen and the forest grows darker. The beast attacks the cabin, battering it while Rob and Emmy barricade themselves in a bedroom with a sturdy dresser as the monster devastates the space. Dawn brings a renewed resolve, and Emmy persuades Rob to seek out the beast’s lair, convinced that the location holds the key to stopping the nightmare. They fashion a distraction to lure the beast away, and Rob shoots it with tranquilizers, buying time for him and Emmy to enter the den. They discover Jim barely alive as the beast returns; Rob sacrifices himself to allow Jim and Emmy to escape, and the creature kills him in pursuit. Jim, exhausted and cornered, fires a flare into the snow to create a barrier, and the two take shelter behind a thick tree as an avalanche buries the Snow Beast beneath the white cold. Jim and Emmy emerge alive, returning home with a shared sense that no one will ever believe their story.
In a final, haunting sting, two hikers approaching a snowdrift are ambushed when the beast bursts from the snow, leaving the fate of those unseen victims clear but the rest of the world none the wiser.
