Devastated by a failed hostage situation which resulted in the deaths of a young mother and her child, LAPD negotiator Jeff Talley (Bruce Willis) exits Los Angeles for a no profile job as chief of police in the low crime hamlet of Bristo Camino, a small town in Ventura County.

When three delinquent teenagers follow home a family intending to steal their car, they have inadvertently picked the wrong house on the wrong day. The trio find them selves trapped in a multi-million dollar compound on the outskirts of town, owned by an accountant working for a mysterious crime enterprise. Panicked, the teenagers take the family hostage, placing Talley in exactly the kind of situation he never wanted to face again. Soon after, Talley readily hands authority of the hostage situation over to the Ventura County Sherrifs Department and leaves the scene.

Meanwhile, inside the compound is digital information, which is time sensitive and invaluable to the mysterious criminals and critical to their enterprise. They will stop at nothing to get what belongs to them. Talley is forced to resume the command he abandoned, where the stakes quickly evolve into a hostage situation far more volatile and terrifying than anything else he could ever imagine.