In the year 2033, after a decade-long global drought sparked by a comet’s impact, water has become a scarce prize controlled by Kesslee and his Water & Power (W&P) corporation. They govern the population by monopolizing the remaining supply, leaving communities to fight for a drop while the powerful widen the gap between rich and poor. Amid this harsh landscape, Rebecca "[Tank Girl]" Buck guards what may be the last free water source—a commune in the Australian outback that still operates a single well untouched by W&P.
When an attack by W&P troops descends on the outpost, Tank Girl loses her boyfriend and is seized alongside her young companion Sam. Rather than end her life, Kesslee subjects her to a brutal regimen of enslavement and torture designed to crush her spirit, a test she refuses to pass. Among her captors, Jet Girl, [Jet Girl], a gifted but withdrawn jet mechanic who has shelved dreams of escape, tries to coax her into quiet submission. Tank Girl’s defiance only grows stronger as she endures—one recalled humiliation of hers being a descent into a long pipe meant to trigger claustrophobia.
From the shadows, the mysterious Rippers mount a bold breakout, slaughtering guards at the W&P compound and slipping away into the desert. Kesslee intends to lure them out by using Tank Girl, but the plan backfires as the Rippers gravely wound him. The two women seize their chance and flee during the chaos. Jet Girl steals a fighter jet, while Tank Girl engineers a heavily modified tank, seizing mobility and power in a way the corporation never anticipated. Their escape marks the beginning of a wider arc as they learn the truth behind W&P’s plans.
Guided by the eccentric Sub Girl, [Sub Girl], the pair discovers that Sam is working at a notorious underground venue called Liquid Silver. They infiltrate the club, pull Sam from danger, and force the tyrannical owner to bear the consequences of her predatory trade by making her perform a charged number at gunpoint. The disruption is interrupted by W&P troops, forcing the trio to retreat with Sam in tow.
Wandering the arid wastelands, Tank Girl and Jet Girl locate the Rippers’ hidden lair. The Rippers are revealed to be supersoldiers born from a fusion of human and kangaroo DNA, engineered by a man known as Johnny Prophet. Among them, a friendly rogue named Booga, [Booga], forms a bond with Tank Girl, while Donner (who harbors a growing affection for Jet Girl) piques Jet Girl’s interest. Despite concerns raised by the wary Ripper T-Saint, [T-Saint], the group’s leader Deetee, [Deetee], sends the newcomers on a mission to grab a weapons shipment to bolster their cause. The crate haul mostly yields empty boxes, but within one container they find Johnny Prophet’s corpse, a grim clue that W&P has manipulated everyone involved.
Realizing they’ve been used, Tank Girl and the Rippers infiltrate W&P’s fortress. A litany of chaos ensues as Deetee sacrifices himself to damage the generator, plunging the facility into darkness and shifting the tide of battle toward the Rippers. Jet Girl rids the operation of a sexual harasser, Sergeant Small, while Tank Girl locates the ominous truth about Sam’s peril: Sam is trapped in the pipe where rising water threatens her life. In a climactic confrontation, Tank Girl kills Kesslee, freeing Sam from imminent danger. The film closes on a hopeful note with an animated sequence showing water beginning to flow freely again, and Tank Girl tearing through rapids with Booga hitching a ride on water skis as they plunge over a waterfall, roaring with joy.
