The Day After

Background reports reveal a Soviet buildup and a looming confrontation. Dr. Russell Oakes continues his work at a Kansas City hospital as his daughter Marilyn prepares to move away. In nearby Harrisonville, Jim Dahlberg's family holds a wedding rehearsal, while airman Billy McCoy remains stationed at a Minuteman silo, all while tensions mount.

The following day, NATO attempts to break the blockade at Helmstedt-Marienborn as Warsaw Pact MiGs attack Würzburg. Moscow is evacuated amid the escalation, while East Germany tightens border pressures. The conflict expands beyond the Atlantic into Europe.

At the University of Kansas in Lawrence, news spreads that Soviets have invaded West Germany, triggering a broader conflict. Soviet armored thrusts push toward the Rhine, signaling an immediate threat to Western Europe. The mood shifts from concern to urgent fear on campus and beyond.

Pre-med student Stephen Klein decides to hitchhike home to Joplin, Missouri, hoping to reach his family. Denise's fiancé Bruce witnesses frantic shoppers pulling items from shelves as both sides conduct naval operations in the Persian Gulf. The journey foreshadows the personal costs of the war.

The Emergency Broadcast System is activated and people begin fleeing Kansas City as authorities scramble to respond. Fear and confusion spread as residents imagine the unthinkable while alarms and sirens pierce the air. The city edges toward a chaotic wartime reality.

A wave of ICBMs is launched toward Russia after U.S. command activates missile protocols. A high-altitude nuclear detonation triggers an EMP that disables vehicles and destroys the power grid. The Midwest and surrounding areas plunge into darkness and breakdown.

McCoy leaves the now-empty silo and tells his fellow airmen that the war is effectively over. He travels toward Sedalia with a mute man and, upon reaching the hospital, dies of radiation poisoning. His journey embodies the cost of strategic decisions on ordinary lives.

Oakes, stranded on the highway, finally reaches University Hospital in Lawrence to begin treating the growing stream of patients. Shortwave fallout reports from KU professor Joe Huxley warn that travel outdoors is fatal, and supplies steadily dwindle. The hospital becomes a frontline against a spreading catastrophe.

Klein finds the Dahlberg home and begs refuge in the family's basement; Denise runs outside and both are exposed to thick radioactive dust. The basement offers temporary shelter, but the danger from fallout remains pervasive and unseen. The community fractures as fear takes its toll.

Oakes bonds with Nurse Nancy Bauer, who later dies of meningitis, and a pregnant woman pleads with him to tell her she isn’t doomed. The hospital crew faces emotional strain as medical staff fall to illness and exhaustion. Hope clashes with the harsh reality of a collapsing medical system.

In a radio address, the U.S. President announces a ceasefire and promises relief, but attempts at aid from the National Guard and infrastructural redevelopment prove fruitless. Looting becomes commonplace as order dissolves and humanity clings to dwindling resources. The nation slides toward a grim aftermath.

Jim Dahlberg (and, it is implied, his remaining family) is killed by squatters, while Denise, Klein, and Oakes waste away from radiation sickness. The film juxtaposes personal tragedy with a collapsing civilization as survivors grapple with inevitability. The losses underscore the indiscriminate reach of nuclear war.

Returning to an irradiated Kansas City to see his old home one last time, Oakes confronts squatters who offer him food. He collapses and weeps as a grim realization settles in that there is no easy return to normal. The scene crystallizes the film's bleak vision of postwar life.

The film ends with an audio overlay of Huxley's warning on the radio, asking if anybody can still hear him. The screen fades to black as Morse code transmits a single message to the viewer: MAD. The final moment cements the nightmare of nuclear brinkmanship.