In a federal prison in Colorado, Ray watches the guards while burning a page from his Bible
and using the ashes to draw on the wall. At that moment, his cellmate informs him that a
prisoner is planning to attack Ray in the yard the next day. When the time comes, Ray attacks
first and quickly overpowers two other prisoners, fighting like a pro and severely injuring them in
the process. The guards immediately capture Ray and take him to solitary confinement,
where he’s allowed to keep his Bible. As days pass, Ray studies the guards’ routines,
like their smoking breaks and the use of a keypad lock. Ray also starts making little balls with
toilet paper and water, which he hides inside the toilet paper tube. When they bring him lunch,
he extracts a transparent plastic sheet from the milk carton. One afternoon, Ray asks a guard for
the time, then he starts counting for himself. Outside, a mysterious woman leaves a car in the
prison’s parking lot and as she walks away from it, she uses a control to make it explode. All
the guards run to evacuate the prisoners, only to discover Ray has escaped. The firetruck rushes to
take care of the fire and it’s revealed Ray is on it dressed as a fireman, using the chance to
escape in a vehicle driven by his friends Hush and Abigail, who triggered the explosion. They
drop Ray at a store by the road and give him a coin, which Ray uses to call a certain number
and just say the word “showtime”. Soon Ray is surrounded by policemen and he’s arrested again,
but he isn’t bothered because his contact Lester is already taking care of it, Later in the prison,
Lester explains that he and Ray work for a company hired by the government to break out
of prisons and expose the flaws in their security systems. Ray has already escaped from fourteen
prisons and explains how he did this time. He studied the layout and the routines, discovering
an unsecured fire garage. He made some enemies on purpose to be sent to solitary confinement,
where he noticed the prison was understaffed and he was left alone whenever the guards left to
smoke. Then he wrote a letter for his team, hiding the chosen day to escape in code. He also put the
plastic sheet on the keypad to get the guard’s fingerprints and retrieved it by hiding it in
his Bible. The sheet gave him the four numbers, so to guess the sequence, he used the paper balls
on the door’s food hatch to stop it from locking properly and when the guards weren’t around, he
would put his hand out to test combinations until it worked. While the guards were out smoking,
Ray came out, rewound the security cameras a few hours to cover his absence, then used the vents
to reach the fire apartment right before Abigail started the fire. Now the warden is annoyed but
lets Ray go. Sometime later in Los Angeles, Ray helps Hush with some computer problems before
meeting CIA representative Jessica, who has a job offer. She explains that the CIA has created a
new prison whose location can’t be shared with Ray or his team, but if he manages to escape from it,
they’ll pay 5 million instead of the usual 2.5. Ray agrees to do it even if Abigal and Hush are
wary, and Jessica provides Ray with a cover ID: an explosives terrorist named Portos. His contact
in the prison will be Warden Marsh and Ray is given an evacuation code. A few days later in
New Orleans, Abigail and Hush are still worried about the lack of information they have on this
prison and convince Ray to wear a tracking device, which they inject into his arm. Then Ray goes to
stand on the street to be picked up, only to suddenly be tased down and thrown into the back
of a van. While the vehicle takes off, the masked men scan Ray’s body and find the tracker, so they
immediately take it out. Abigail's and Hush's computer instantly loses Ray’s signal at the
same time Ray is put to sleep with an injection. Sometime later, Ray wakes up inside a helicopter
while still in a groggy state. He watches as guard Drake beats another inmate up before stabbing him
and throwing him out of the helicopter. Then Drake notices Ray is awake and orders his men to put him
to sleep again. When Ray wakes up again, he’s finally in prison, but it’s nothing like he’s
ever seen before. All cells are plexiglas cubes hanging from the air, and guards wear black masks
to hide their identities. There’s also a huge sphere with a camera that moves around to keep
an eye on the prisoners. Now that he’s awake, Ray is taken to see the warden, who is a man called
Hobbs. Worried because this isn’t the warden they told him about, Ray gives out his evacuation code,
but Hobbs doesn’t know what he means and doesn't care. Later when everyone is taken out of their
cells for a break, Ray watches how the guards don’t hesitate to brutally beat up anyone who
doesn’t obey them. The prisoner’s jumpsuits have a special code on them, and they’re scanned through
every door. At that moment Hobbs says the name of Ray’s fake identity through the speakers,
as if announcing his presence. After watching another man getting beat up, Ray is approached by
some thugs who want to take advantage of the new guy, but Ray immediately breaks the leader’s hand
and punches him down. Before the others can react, prisoner Emil tells them to back away. Emil tries
to befriend Ray and explains he used to work for Mannheim, a powerful man who stole from the rich
to give to the poor. Mannheim is a wanted man, but Emil refuses to tell Hobbs anything. However Ray
doesn’t care about Emil’s story. Meanwhile Hobbs scolds Drake for killing that inmate since it was
a capture for a client, implying many people here aren’t criminals and they just got on someone’s
bad side. It’s also revealed he has the book Ray wrote. The rest of the day, Ray continues to study
the layout of the prison and the behavior of the inmates, like noticing the Muslim prisoners that
still pray even if they can’t see the sunset. Emil notices Ray watches everything and points out he’s
the guy to go for favors, so Ray explains he needs to get into the isolation area. Eager to help,
Emil immediately punches him and makes him fall, but when Ray punches back Emil just laughs. Then
Ray starts hitting him harder and an actual fight ensues until the guards come to drag Ray and Emil
to the isolation area. The isolation rooms are tiny metal boxes with blinding lights on the side,
which torture the prisoners with unbearable heat. Ray does his best to withstand the
suffering and inspects the box for anything he can use to escape. A few days later,
Doctor Kyrie comes to check on Ray’s health and Ray tries to get information from him,
but Kyrie doesn’t say anything. On his way out, Kyrie is approached by Drake who demands to know
what they talked about. Kyrie lies, which tells Ray he may have a conscience after all. Afterward
Emil and Ray are sent back to the general area, where Ray starts making a drawing on the table
while telling Emil he’ll need a piece of metal, promising to get Emil out too if he helps. Next
Emil asks to speak to Hobbs and pretends he’ll finally confess Mannheim's location. He asks for
some paper to draw a map, only to make a very rude drawing instead. A furious Hobbs makes his
men hold Emil down to waterboard him, and after enduring lots of pain, Emil uses the chance to
steal a metal drain cover. Later in the common area, Emil gives the cover to Ray, who tells him
his real identity and how he got there. By having watched the layout, Ray guesses this prison has
been built underground and there’s something under the box's hatch that should allow him to escape.
Since the place is subterranean, there’s moisture in the air that has caused the steel rivets to
rust, so Ray will apply toothpaste and heat with the metal cover to make the rivets snap. First
they need to be sent to the isolation again, so Emil approaches Javed and starts a fight by
insulting his mother. Javed’s Muslim group comes in his defense and after hiding some bread in his
clothes, Ray joins the fight, but they only get to exchange a few hits before the guards arrive
to subdue everyone with tasers. Once everyone is back in the heat boxes, Ray starts working
on the rivets while hiding what he’s doing with his own body. It’s very hard to work because of
the heat and his hands start bleeding, so whenever he makes too much noise, Emil hides it by yelling
his pain. Eventually Ray manages to remove all the rivets and covers the security camera with
the bread before knocking on the wall to give Emil a signal. At that moment, Emil begins to cry and
yell like crazy in German, getting all the guard’s attention on him. Ray uses the chance to finally
open the hatch and begins going down a ladder until he lands on a corridor. The door is locked,
so he decides to use some pipes to start climbing up, only to accidentally tear off some electrical
cables and break a few pipes in the process. Ray just keeps going until he finds another hatch,
which he opens to find the shocking truth: this prison is inside an oil tanker ship in the middle
of the ocean. Suddenly he notices some guards nearby, so he quickly hides and goes back into
the hatch to climb down. The leaking water pushes him away and he ends up falling, but the corridor
is getting flooded so he lands safely in the water. As the boxes slowly get flooded too,
an alarm starts ringing and the guards rush to take the prisoners out of isolation. Ray swims
as fast as he can and after lots of effort to go against the water pressure on the stairs,
he returns to his box right before the guards come for him. Meanwhile Abigail and Hush inform
Lester that Jessica’s payment has been frozen, but Lester tells them he’s already talked to her and
everything is going well. After the water is taken care of, Hobbs finds the rivets in Ray’s box and
starts getting suspicious. He makes a call that reveals Lester has been in contact with him all
along, and Lester tells Hobbs Ray’s real identity. Lester asks him to keep Ray forever and then asks
Hobbs for information on Mannheim because banks all over the world want his head. Hobbs explains
Emil may be working with Ray, so Lester gives him permission to break Ray too. Later in the evening,
Ray is trying to sleep but a guard keeps tapping on his wall to keep him awake, and he beats him
up in the morning as a wake-up call. This starts happening every day, and Ray’s body begins getting
so weak that he can barely move. Emil gives him as many pep talks as possible to keep up Ray’s
spirit, and Ray ends up sharing his story. He used to be a prosecutor, and a criminal he sent to jail
one day escaped to kill his family for revenge. The drawing Ray is making is the last memory
of his kid. Since then he makes sure criminals won’t escape ever again. For the next few days,
Ray studies the guards’ routine to find any useful habits, starting to assign names to them
by differencing them through body shapes. To start making a plan, he first needs to know where they
are, but there were no landmarks when he went out. One day during lunch, Emil discretely stabs Ray,
who is taken to Kyrie’s office for stitches. Ray suddenly pretends he’s in great pain and falls,
using the chance to steal a few things from a tray. He also reminds Kyrie of his oath,
but the doctor still ignores his questions. When Ray returns to the common area, Emil
gives him a pen and a prisoner’s glasses. Hiding his hands under the table, Ray builds a sextant,
which should help them determine where they’re based on the stars. Drake and Hobbs notice weird
movements on the security camera, so Hobbs asks to see Ray. Fortunately he hides the tool before
he’s dragged away to a new section, where Hobbs tells him he knows his identity and admits he used
his book to design this facility. Hobbs is ready to leave him there forever, so Ray lies and says
he can get information on Mannheim from Emil. Then Ray is sent back to the common area and tells Emil
of the new plan. Later while Ray is giving a bunch of fake information to Hobbs, Emil approaches
Javed and gives him the sextant, promising to help him escape too if he helps them. Afterward
Javed contacts Hobbs and tells him the others are planning to escape, so Hobbs agrees to buy his
information by letting him pray in open air as his beliefs demand. This is all part of the plan and
that night in his new cell, Javed uses the sextant to get the coordinates of their location. The next
day over lunch, Javed gives his notes to Ray, who puts it together with things like the weather
he felt when he was out, the date mentioned by a newbie, and the direction the water goes down in
the toilet to conclude they’re near the coast of Morocco. Next Ray swallows some clothing powder to
get sick and be sent to Kyrie’s office, where he tells the doctor to go to Hobbs' office and read
a passage on a particular page in a certain book. After some hesitation, Kyrie checks the book and
finds the Hippocratic oath. The next day, Kyrie asks the guards to bring Ray to his office for a
check-up. He wonders how Kyrie knew the exact page and Ray explains he wrote it, which confirms his
identity and finally convinces Kyrie to help. Afterward Ray gives Hobbs a fake location to
find Mannheim, so they have 24 hours to escape before Hobbs catches on. As part of the plan,
Javed also meets with Hobbs and tells him about the incoming escape, so Hobbs rushes to check the
cameras and notices Ray tapping on his cell wall. Recognizing Morse code, they discover a message
about a plan to riot in block C during transfer. Meanwhile Kyrie is sending a coded e-mail to
request help. After most of the guards are sent to block C, Javed starts a riot in the common area,
which soon becomes absolute chaos. As Hobbs tries to make his men change areas quickly, Ray, Emil,
and Javed rush to knock down the few guards around them and steal their weapons. The incoming guards
start subduing the prisoners but also throw a gas bomb, allowing the trio to sneak away unnoticed.
Ray explains that they only have eleven minutes to meet with the rescuers, who are approaching
in a helicopter. They rush upstairs and shoot a door open before Ray finds a security camera,
but since the cameras are connected, Ray messes with this one to disable them all. At that moment
Hobbs activates lockdown protocol, so when the trio is about to get out, they find the exit
locked. The trio starts wandering around looking for another exit and soon they’re surrounded by
guards who open fire. They immediately shoot back and quickly bring down all the men, but Javed gets
wounded in the process. More guards are coming, so Emil and Ray drag Javed as they run to hide behind
another door. Ray realizes they were found by a motion detector so he disables it while a furious
Hobbs taunts him through the speakers. Then Ray decides he must find the engine room to shut down
the power, so he gives his gun to Javed and tells him and Emil to take the stairs. After Ray leaves,
Javed admits he won’t make it, so he takes Emil’s gun too and asks him to go on without him. Soon
after Emil also leaves, Javed is surrounded by guards, and he bravely makes sure to shoot all
of them down before he’s brought down by a hidden shooter. When Hobbs finds him, Javed says his last
words to his God before he’s killed. Meanwhile Drake goes after Ray in the engine room. Ray
jumps around and runs to dodge Drake’s bullets, then he manages to surprise him from behind. In
the struggle, Drake loses his gun, but he takes out a knife and a hand-to-hand fight ensues. After
exchanging a few hits, Drake chokes Ray for a few seconds before starting to kick him down,
so Ray grabs his leg to overpower him and get the fighting going again. Both men steal a few tools
to use as weapons and after exchanging a few hits, Ray pushes Drake down the stairs, killing him.
Afterward Ray rushes to the control panel, knocks out the technician, and turns off the ship’s
generators. All lights go out in the ship and the doors open, allowing Emil to come out. At that
moment a helicopter opens fire on the ship before landing on the deck, where a few men come out
to start a gunfight with the guards. Emil sneaks around while avoiding bullets and makes it to the
chopper, where one of the soldiers has been shot down. The pilot wants to take off, but Emil asks
him to wait for Ray before he takes over a machine gun to join the fight, killing dozens of guards in
seconds. In the engine room, Hobbs is looking for Ray, who is hiding inside a water tank. At that
moment the guards turn the ship’s systems back on, so Emil has no choice but to leave with his guys
in the helicopter. Ray’s tank starts filling with water, but before he can drown, the tank
automatically flushes itself and expells Ray into the ocean. He immediately swims to the surface
and Emil throws a ladder down for him, but as he climbs up, Hobbs and the guards open fire on them.
Emil gives Ray a gun and they both fire back until Emil gets wounded in the shoulder. Hobbs keeps
missing his moving target and Ray uses the chance to shoot a bunch of oil tanks, causing a big
explosion that kills Hobbs. A few hours later, the helicopter drops the duo on the Moroccan beach,
where they’re picked up by Jessica. It turns out Emil is Mannheim and Jessica is his daughter,
so she hired Ray to get her dad out of prison. She also confirms that Lester is dirty and betrayed
her too. Sometime later, Ray reunites with Abigail, who has acquired information on Lester:
he had been offered to be CEO of the prison program if Ray was unable to get out. Now Lester
is trying to get away, but Hush is waiting for him in his car and quickly knocks him out. When
Lester wakes up, he discovers the car is inside a box on top of a ship in the middle of the ocean.