After a night of passion, Petra and James wake up together early in the morning. Petra rushes
out to go to class, but James decides to stay in bed a little longer. This causes him to oversleep,
and by the time he wakes up again, he’s already late. He runs through the city as fast as he can
until he makes it to his Philosophy class, where the teacher Mister Zimit at first considers not
letting him, but eventually he opens the door. Today is the last school day, and Mister Zimit
wants the students to tell them about their favorite thought exercise they’ve gone through.
Chips mentions the infinite monkey theorem, which says that if you give a monkey a typewriter and an
infinite amount of time, it will eventually type out the entire Hamlet. Jack mentions the trolley
problem, which says you have a lever to choose if a train will kill one or four people. Just
for fun, they change that riddle into the obese man problem, where you have to option to push a
fat man on the tracks to stop the trolley. Georgina likes the ignorant bliss paradox:
in this one, someone is hanging off the highest tower in the city on purpose to test if their
friends will help them. However the friends are afraid if they try to pull them up, they might be
yanked over themselves, so they step back. The person falls and lives, but now they wonder if
it truly is better knowing that their friends wouldn’t save them or if ignorance is bliss.
Zimit decides that they will do one last thought exercise to finish the school year: the class must
assume there is an impending atomic apocalypse and imagine a bunker that will give them shelter for
a year. Zimit begins narrating the scene to make everyone use their imaginations, picturing an area
surrounded by nuclear explosions. As Zimit takes them through an imaginary tour of the bunker,
he points out the problem: there are only supplies for ten people. The class has twenty students in
it, so they have to decide which of them to let in and who stays out, on top of that there isn't much
time to decide before the atomic radiation reaches them. Georgina refuses to participate because she
thinks it’s just like discussing eugenics, but when Zimit describes how gruesome and painful
it is to die under radiation, she accepts to play. Petra also refuses to participate and even
stands up to leave, knowing that she’s always had perfect grades and Zimit can’t hurt her by
lowering them a bit. However Zimit threatens to lower James’ grades instead, which would make him
fail the class, and Petra has no choice but to stay. Next, Zimit distributes cards containing
the random profession each student will have in the exercise. He opens the box for James first,
and after he takes a card, Zimit goes to the desk to cough before handing a card to Petra. Then he
coughs against at the desk before giving cards to everyone else. Now the students can look at
the professions they got: all these jobs vary in themes, from harpist and wine auctioneer
to astronaut and chemist. Toby reveals he’s a published poet, but he barely gets to finish
talking before Zimit shoots him, revealing he took the gun from the bunker. Zimit explains
that this is more humane than letting him die by radiation, since he wouldn't get into the bunker
anyway because a poet isn’t useful when humanity must be rebuilt. Zimit also explains he’s part
of the exercise, but his profession is hidden so he should be seen as a wild card. Afterward each
student defends their right to enter the bunker and they proceed to vote. The first nine choices
are those who they consider useful for survival: Petra the structural engineer, James the farmer,
Georgina the orthopedic surgeon, Chips the carpenter, Jack the chemist, Bonnie the soldier,
Andy the electrician, Poppie the psychotherapist, and Omosedé the senator. There are also nine that
quickly get voted out for not being useful: Vivian the zoologist, Beatrice the fashion designer,
Parker the gelato maker, Kavi the real estate agent, Russell the harpist, Plum the hedge-fund
manager, Nelson the house-keeper, Mitzie the wine auctioneer, and Yoshiko the astronaut. The last
place must be chosen between Zimit and Utami the opera singer. Petra thinks a wild card is a risk,
but Jack points out that an opera singer is a luxury and he’d rather risk it with Zimit,
who may have a useful secret. Zimit wins, and now that the groups are completed,
they take five minutes to say goodbye, so they move the desks around to pretend they’re
having their final words. Suddenly they hear some gunshots and discover Zimit has killed
everyone who didn’t get a spot, again saying it was the humane thing to do. The group is shocked,
and Petra whispers to James that she doesn’t want Zimit in the bunker anymore. James makes
a plan and asks everyone to gather some plants before going into the bunker, claiming they’re
keeping them for replanting when they come out. While everyone is separated to do the gathering,
James goes to each of them in turn and tells them of his plan. When the time comes, the group enters
the bunker and disables the external keypad before closing the door while Zimit is left outside. Then
they take a look at the different rooms: there’s an artificial garden, a day bed, a gym, books,
and other things to supposedly avoid depression. In the evening while everyone sleeps on the cots,
James meets Petra on the big bed and tells her he can get through anything with her. Once James
falls asleep, Petra goes to check on Zimit and finds him slowly burning under the radiation.
Suddenly Zimit holds up a piece of paper that says only he has the exit code. Petra immediately calls
the group and they begin arguing over what to do, unsure if believing Zimit or not. In the end they
decide to ignore him, and they begin to live through the year in the bunker. It’s incredibly
boring, and they barely can keep themselves busy with mundane tasks. Every day Petra checks
on Zimit's body, which is slowly rotting, and occasionally a dog comes to munch on it. Once
the year passes, the group gets ready to come out, only to discover Zimit had been right: the
lock asks for an exit code. The students proceed to use different methods to try to break the door,
to no avail. They try to survive a few more days with the few supplies they have left, but soon
they run out, so they decide to end things for themselves for a more humane ending. In class,
Zimit announces they failed the experiment and reveals his profession is a bunker builder,
in fact he was the one that built that particular bunker and therefore the only one who has the
code. The students want to try again, and this time they imagine a new location, choosing Mont
Bromo. Once again Zimit runs to grab a gun, which Petra notices. Then it’s revealed that the cards
hide a second characteristic that may influence the votes. James’ characteristic is being gay, but
he still gets accepted for his farming knowledge, although with fewer votes. Georgina the surgeon
was exposed to the ebola virus, so this time she’s left out. Plum the hedge fund manager always
travels with a bag of gold, so she is accepted. Chips the carpenter is infertile, but he’s also
accepted again because of his skills. Petra the structural engineer is also an electrical
engineer, so she is saved. Andy the electrician reveals he has a very rare disease that may kill
him at any second, so he’s rejected. Poppie the psychotherapist can’t have children, so she’s left
out. Vivian the zoologist reveals she supports PETA, so she is left out again. Jack the chemist
won the genetic lottery, meaning he’ll live long and healthy, so he’s accepted again. Kavi the real
estate agent is also a midwife, and since they’ve lost Georgina as their doctor, he gets to stay
this time. Parker the gelato maker has no extra characteristic, which means someone else has two,
and he’s left out. Utami the opera singer has two: she can speak seven languages but she will develop
a throat tumor in three years that won’t let her talk anymore, so she’s left out. Mitzie the wine
auctioneer has an IQ of 200 yet she’s left out again. Beatrice the fashion designer created a
popular brand of women's clothing out of bamboo, but she’s also left out again, and the same
happens to Russell the harpist who is autistic. Omosedé the senator will be the first female
chief justice of the supreme court, therefore she is saved again. Bonnie the soldier has eidetic
memory and gets saved once more. Nelson the housekeeper is an “exceptionally kind person”,
which at first doesn’t help him, but he ends up staying when Petra says that they need more boys
and Omosedé argues that they need more hard and strong workers from the middle class. When Toby
the poet is about to mention his characteristic, Zimit shoots him again, saying this spot is for
him because the group still doesn’t know the code. Then Zimit gives Georgina the keys to a truck,
and the people that were left outside immediately try to run away to save themselves. Unfortunately,
the vehicle is hit by the explosion. The chosen ones also begin running to reach the bunker just
in time, and the boring everyday life begins once again. Later in the evening, Petra wakes up and
sees James isn’t on his bed, so she goes looking for him only to find him getting frisky with Jack,
who turns out to be gay in real life. Petra is hurt and rushes out to tell the rest of the
group what she saw, now they decide it’s time to discuss how they will get together to procreate.
Since Chips is infertile, he doesn’t need to help, while Jack and James refuse to participate because
they can’t even fake it with a woman for the sake of babies. Bonnie and Kavi are paired together,
and so are Omosedé and Nelson. As revenge for her boyfriend, Petra accepts to do it with Zimit,
ignoring James when he says she still loves her. While the explosions outside ravage the planet,
the three couples get frisky at the same time. After ten weeks of no pregnancies,
Zimit points out that they must change couples, saying the girls should have multiple partners.
Bonnie refuses, saying they are taking logic too far to solve things and that shouldn’t
override her consent. Zimit walks away only to return with a gun in hand, threatening everyone
but Bonnie to leave the room. The group runs out but Jack manages to hide behind a corner,
and once Zimit is distracted, Jack tackles him and makes him drop the gun. Bonnie quickly picks it up
and holds Zimit at gunpoint, but the guys continue to fight until Zimit overpowers Jack. However Jack
retaliates by stabbing Zimit in the ear with a pen. Devastated, Zimit goes to the front door
and puts in the code to open it, bringing everyone down with him. The class has failed the exercise
again. James is more suspicious now and questions Zimit's motives for the exercise, mentioning the
strange cough he had when he assigned him and Petra the roles and pointing out that Zimit has
not coughed since. Suddenly James goes to the desk and grabs the box, running out of Zimit’s reach
to open it and discover the secret. It turns out the the box has hidden compartments and
James’ and Petra's cards have been tampered with, meaning they would always get the same results:
gay farmer and double engineer. James wants to know why Zimit hates him in particular,
so Zimit brings up the allegory of Plato's cave. In this allegory, a man lives his whole life
chained to a wall and only ever sees shadows and hears echoes, assuming that’s how reality truly
looks and sounds. One day the man is unchained and finds that the shadows are caused by bodies
and the echoes are caused by voices, discovering that the whole idea of what was real was just
an illusion. Zimit says that this allegory is something like James, claiming that the
exercise is meant to confront James about how his privilege has ill-prepared him for the real world,
but James doesn’t believe him. Zimit could’ve made him something useless like a florist so
he could be voted out since the beginning, but a gay farmer means Zimit wanted him to prolong
his suffering on purpose. At that moment Petra interrupts the argument and insists that the
exercise should be done a third time, this time with James as a florist. Now their imaginations
take them to an island and the apocalypse hasn’t happened yet. Zimit goes to the bunker to grab
a weapon as usual, and he hears a noise but thinks nothing of it. When he goes back outside,
Petra joins him and offers him a hug, saying that she knows it's been hard on him. Afterward,
Petra asks everyone to trust her to choose who gets to enter the bunker because she has a plan.
When everyone agrees, Petra makes her choices and explains her reasoning. Mitzie is saved because a
genius wine auctioneer would be smart enough to bring both red and white wine on a trip,
ensuring everyone has a good time. Beatrice is saved because dressing well boosts self-esteem,
which promotes productivity and could save civilization. Toby’s second skill turns out to
be champion poker player, so he’s saved because he brought cards with him and he’ll provide
entertainment. Russell is also saved because many people consider autism a gift. Georgina was only
exposed to ebola but they don’t have proof she has it, so Petra brings her in while promising
to pray for her. Utami the opera singer may be mute in three years, but now everyone could fall
asleep to her singing so she also gets saved. Jack is taken in because of his perfect genes,
but he is upset because he’ll be without a partner because of his orientation. At that moment Parker
comes out of the closet, so he’s saved as well. With only two spots left, Petra chooses James. As
the chosen ones enter the bunker, in the classroom everyone sits together as a team. Zimit has been
complaining all along and with each choice, he lowers Petra’s grade to the point of failing, but
seeing the useless people enter the bunker makes him lose it and he reaches for his gun. However he
doesn’t find it, it turns out Petra stole it when she hugged him earlier. She gives it back to him,
only to reveal it’s not loaded. Petra hands Zimit two bullets, saying she doesn't want him to suffer
like last time, but at that moment James threatens Zimit with a rifle, it turns out he had been the
noise in the bunker. Desperate to survive, Zimit says that nobody knows the exit code except him,
but Bonnie used her perfect memory to memorize it during the last run. Feeling defeated, Zimit
leaves. Next Petra wants to give the last slot to Bonnie, but since she refuses, Chips takes the
spot. James is no longer gay in this itineration of the exercise and begs Petra to come with them,
but she refuses, saying she’ll take the boat and try to get out of the radiation zone, only for
Chips to reveal he has the boat keys. Acting fast, Chips pushes Petra inside, switching places with
her before the door closes. While the rest of the group rushes to the boat to get off the island,
Petra continues to narrate the thought exercise, explaining that despite horrific circumstances,
somehow they had fun during the year in the bunker because they had cards, wine, Shakespeare
performances, and original poems. James tells Petra how much he loves her, but she hesitates to
respond with the same phrase. When machines break in the bunker, they use the pieces to make a harp,
and Russell plays it while Utami sings to make their evenings magical. Once the year passes, the
group leaves the bunker only to discover that the bombs never fell. Zimit narrates that they will
die, as none of them have the technical skills to survive on an island, but Petra responds that
their lives will be short but at least they’ll be well and happy, they’ll also be ready to welcome
death when it arrives. Suddenly a rocket falls on the beach and James gets ready to detonate it,
but at that moment Zimit shows up and shoots to stop him. It turns out he had found a cave
and went deep enough to avoid the radiation, for the past year he has been surviving with what he
could find there. Zimit can’t let them commit an act as unreasonable as ending the human race and
threatens to shoot James with his last bullet, but the rest of the survivors move one by one to
stand in front of him as a shield. They use the chance to press the detonation button,
and the bomb blows up the entire island. Back in class, Zimit is ashamed of the latest exercise,
but Chips quickly cuts in to offer his own version as well. He says that the boat managed
to go far enough to avoid the explosion, and he became the only guy with six women all to
himself. The group wonders what happened to the three other males, and Chips says Kavi drowned,
Nelson had a barracuda attack, and Andy had a run-in with the palm tree. Being infertile
doesn't mean the chance of procreation is zero, so in this ending, Chips taps a different girl each
day. Zimit finally finishes the class, and all the students leave except Petra, who accuses Zimit of
trying to use the exercise to punish James. It turns out Zimit has been having an affair with
Petra, and he believes James is beneath her. Petra explains that intelligence isn't all that matters
and that she loves James, so he shouldn’t be punished for something he doesn’t know about
anyway. Petra gives Zimit a last kiss and leaves. Afterward Zimit is alone in the school and begins
running through many variations of what happens if he goes to his office. Sometimes he simply eats,
but other times he finds his gun and a shot can be heard in the building.