Paul Dynan, [Kevin Zegers], and his mother [Nola Augustson] are unemployed. At school, two students Jenna, [Tatiana Maslany], and Dean, [Devon Bostick], are aware they are two of a kind, harboring a dangerous contempt for the world around them. Paul, aiming to manipulate Jenna and befriend Dean, hatches a plan to kidnap three children from wealthy families for ransom.
The action shifts to a lakeside house where two men, Clifford Jones, [Stephen McHattie], and Richard Nader, [Ray Liotta], along with Clifford Jones’ driver, [Anthony Ulc], await a third man and, crucially, await their own kids. Elsewhere, Jenna, [Tatiana Maslany], and Dean, [Devon Bostick], abduct Jeff Vincent, [John Bregar], Nick Nader, [Dustin Milligan], and Hailey Jones, [Laura Vandervoort], bringing them to a hidden residence. Paul reappears after making different arrangements and calls Clifford’s house, demanding one million dollars from each father to be wired to an offshore bank account. Fearful, Clifford pays immediately and urges Richard to do the same. However, Richard’s transfer stalls when his agent reports there isn’t enough money, and Bob Vincent, who has not yet arrived, cannot be reached.
The captives are confined in a basement, blindfolded and tied. Paul lights a cigarette and tells Jenna to keep watch. Dean, eager for more cruel amusement, is disappointed not to be assigned a role in the plan. Paul contacts the fathers again and learns that the promised money will not come from Bob, who is late. A grim choice looms: Paul has vowed to kill the hostages if the ransom fails. Jenna, torn and morally collision-prone, shoots Jeff, Bob’s son, after overhearing a warning. The gunfire reveals the grim reality to the fathers, who realize Jeff is dead. Paul then ups the stakes, demanding two million dollars and warning that the other two will be killed if the money is not received. When Bob finally arrives, he wires the money but discovers it was mistakenly sent for Nick instead of Jeff.
Tension escalates as Paul contemplates an even more violent ending—blowing up the house—while Nick and Hailey, shaken by Jeff’s death and the discovery that his body lies beside them, manage a dangerous escape. The two children flee through the woods toward Clifford’s house. The kidnappers scramble to locate them, and Paul orders Jenna and Dean to find the kids but to kill them only if the money doesn’t arrive. Dean corners the children at the gas station and holds them at gunpoint; with the money now in transit, Paul reprograms the plan and instructs them to release the kids and meet at the gas station. Yet Dean, frustrated at not getting to wield real damage, fires at Nick and collapses, only to realize the gun he was given shoots blanks. The kids seize the chance to escape once more.
Jenna tracks the kids to the gas station, and Nick, acting in self-defense and anger, suffocates her with a chokehold. Nick and Hailey make it to Clifford’s house again, while Dean arrives at the gas station to find Jenna alive but injured; in a furious turn, he kills her. Paul then reveals to Jenna and Dean that he has framed them for the chaos. Leaving the house, Paul carries one of the three beer bottles, a quiet symbol of the plan’s twisted success. He manipulates the scene to appear as a struggle involving Clifford’s driver, playing the victim, and lights a match to illuminate Hailey’s face. When the police arrive and question everyone, Hailey and Nick choose not to name Paul as their kidnapper. They have no memory of hearing Paul’s voice as the kidnapper, leaving his true role hidden to them. The movie closes with Hailey and Nick watching the lights and the police cordon off the gas station as Paul departs with his father, the echoes of their ordeal fading into the night.
