By the year 2169, people are genetically engineered to stop aging when they turn
twenty-five. Once that happens, a timer appears on their arm with only one year left. To keep on
living they must work, since time is now society's currency. This means rich people are effectively
immortal. The country has been divided into areas called "time zones" to separate the different
classes, the richest area being "New Greenwich". Meanwhile in the ghetto, Will lives with his
mother Rachel on a tiny apartment, and they barely have any money left to survive each day. Will
wants to make some money on the side through time-fighting, but Rachel forbids it because
it never ends well. This doesn't stop Will from being a generous person, and whenever he bumps
into young Maya on the streets, he gives her some of his time so she can survive too. Will and his
best friend Borel work at the local factory, where they're always rising the prices of the snacks
and it's common to find dead people that timed out on the floor. They're all paid by the day,
but the factory always comes up with an excuse for why their employees didn't meet their quota
and pay them less. One evening, Will goes to a bar where he used to gamble to get an hour a guy owed
him. He also meets Borel, who is happily getting drunk thanks to a crazy guy that is buying drinks
for everyone. This guy is Henry, whose timer has a whole century. Will doesn't understand what a rich
man is doing here and tries to warn him about the Minutemen, a group of gangsters that steal other
people's time, but Henry doesn't listen. Just as Will fears, gang leader Fortis shows up and asks
Henry for a time-fight. Everyone else in the bar runs away except for Will, who hides at the back
just in case. Henry accepts the challenge but asks for a moment in the bathroom first. Just one guard
goes with him, so Will takes the chance to knock the gangster out and escape with Henry through the
back door. They run down a few blocks and hide inside an abandoned factory, which Will locks
from the inside to be safe for the night. Will wonders what a rich guy is doing in the ghetto,
and Henry admits he left New Greenwich because he's 105 years old and tired of living. When
Will points out this is stupid, Henry's amused by the boy's lack of understanding of the world.
He explains the cost of living keeps rising in the ghetto to make sure people keep dying, because the
rich can only live if the poor die. Eventually Henry and Will fall asleep, and in the morning,
Henry takes advantage of waking up first to pass all his time to Will, only keeping five minutes
to himself. Will wakes up shortly afterward and finds a message on the window saying "don't waste
my time". When he looks out, he sees Henry sitting on the bridge right before he times
out. Without noticing there are security cameras around, Will goes to the bridge to make sure Henry
is dead before running away. Moments later, Henry goes to Borel's house, where he bumps
into Borel's wife Greta and their new baby. Henry talks to Borel in private and gifts him a decade,
which matches the ten years they've known each other. In the evening, Henry goes to wait for his
mother at the bus stop, but she never arrives. It turns out Rachel only has an hour and a half left,
and the bus fare went up in the afternoon, so now she can't afford it. It's a two-hour walk
to return home, meaning Rachel must run if she wants to see her son again, Will also starts
running when realizes what's going on. Mother and son collide into each other in the middle of the
street, but unfortunately it's too late and Rachel times out in Will's arms. The next morning, the
police force known as Timekeepers finds Henry's body in the river. Agent Leon is sure he's been
murdered for his time, and orders his men to check the security footage. Because of the angle of the
cameras, they can't see the body falling, but they do see Will's face and assume he's behind Henry's
death. Meanwhile Will wants to avenge his mother's death. He hires a limo pretending to be a rich guy
that got lost and makes the driver take him to New Greenwich, which means paying an extremely
high toll every time he crosses a border. Once he makes it to the city, he stays in a nice hotel,
and his presence is noticed by socialite Sylvia. After resting, Will has some food while Sylvia
watches him from afar. The waitress can tell Will isn't from around here but she treats him well
because he tips her generously, she also points out that if Will's going to the casino, he'll need
better clothes. The fact that Will crossed so many timezones in a few hours appears suspicious in
the system, allowing the Timekeepers to find his current location. Leon also realizes he's chased
Will's father in the past. In the evening, Will buys a proper suit and goes to the casino, where
they ask for a "voluntary donation" of a year because he isn't a member. Will joins the poker
table where he meets Mr. Weis, a time-loaning businessman that doesn't hesitate to bet high
amounts of time. Sylvia, who is Weis' daughter, also comes to the table but only to watch, and
Will keeps an eye on her while taking the risk and betting all he has. This turns out to be worth it
because Will wins the game, which impresses Weis and earns Will an invitation to his next party.
The next day, Will buys a very expensive car and drives it to Weis' party. Sylvia is very curious
about Will and invites him to dance, telling him she can see he's probably from the ghetto.
She admits she sometimes envies people from the ghetto because she lives always surrounded by her
father's guards without real freedom, and she wishes she could do something foolish or worth
something. Will drags her to the beach behind the house to go skinny-dipping, which should count as
something foolish. Sylvia's hesitant at first, but soon joins him in the water and they discuss the
possibility of doing more foolish things. When people begin looking for Sylvia, she hides with
Will in a cave and asks him to go back before they get into trouble. The pair returns to the mansion
through different doors to avoid suspicion. Weis invites Will to play poker, but they're suddenly
interrupted by the Timekeepers, who found Will's location by following the purchase
of his car. Will is taken to a private office for interrogation, but when he tells them about
Henry timing out on purpose, they don't believe him and take most of his time, leaving him with
only two hours for booking and processing. Leo tells Will he reminds him a lot of his father,
who Will doesn't remember well. Weis and Sylvia come to check on the situation, and Will
takes advantage of the distraction to beat the Timekeepers up and steal a gun before escaping.
He uses the gun to grab Sylvia as his hostage, and they run through the back door to leave in Will's
car. Leon begins chasing Will throughout the city and even manages to hit his car from behind, but
Will responds by driving backward. He manages to dodge a truck at the last second, but Leon doesn't
react so fast and crashes against it, meaning Will gets to escape. As they make their way to the
ghetto, Will asks Sylvia for some time, but she refuses to help him. When they reach the bridge,
Will gets distracted by the security cameras and doesn't see the spike strip on the ground, which
causes the car to crash. Both Will and Sylvia fall unconscious and minutes later, they're found by
Fortis and his men, who immediately begin stealing Sylvia's time. At that moment, the Timekeepers'
sirens can be heard approaching, and the gangsters run away, leaving Sylvia with only half an hour.
When they wake up, Sylvia freaks out at the little time she has left and asks Will for help. Will
finds it ironic how she's now in favor of sharing, but helps her anyway before taking her into town.
After they're gone, the Timekeepers arrive to inspect the car, although Leon first needs to
ask for his daily pay, because he never carries more time than necessary. Seeing the situation,
Leon decides not to chase after Will anymore because he's sure he'll contact them first. Will
goes to see Borel to ask for help, but Greta has bad news: Borel drank so much that he died with
nine years still on his timer. Sylvia starts freaking out again, but Will notices she has
fancy earrings and drags her to the pawn shop. The owner is about to close, but he makes an
exception when he sees how valuable the rings are. He also notices how desperate they're for
time and only pays them two days, which they have no choice but to accept to survive. Next,
they go to a pay phone and Will makes Sylvia dial her house's phone so he can talk to Leon.
As a ransom, Will asks for a thousand years to be distributed to the Time Lines in the ghetto. Leon
warns Will that he's becoming too much like his father and reveals the man didn't die during a
time-fight like Will thinks, he actually was doing something more dangerous. Will hangs up on him,
and Leon tells Sylvia's parents of the ransom, but Weis hesitates to give away even what for him is
pocket change. Will takes Sylvia to his apartment to spend the night there, and Sylvia changes into
Rachel's old clothes. Sylvia asks Will about his father, and Will explains his dad used to
be an excellent time-fighter that taught him a few tricks. To prove his point, he grabs Sylvia's arm
and shows him how to time-fight, it's a battle of wills between timers. His dad taught him to
let the opponent think they have the upper hand, let his own clock almost reach zero, and when the
opponent is distracted by his incoming death, turn the tables and take it all. Will used to think his
dad died on a time-fight, but he now realizes he was probably killed because he gave away what he
won. Then Will and Sylvia shared what happened on their twenty-fifth birthdays: Will's timer started
when he was on the street and he quickly almost lost his extra year because they were in debt. In
contrast, Sylvia had a peaceful awakening in bed and her dad gave her a decade to celebrate. The
next morning, Will watches the Time Line building from the window, but unfortunately they don't have
any charity to share, meaning Weis didn't pay the ramson. Sylvia's hurt by her father's lack
of care but finally understands he became rich by stomping on other people's rights. Will tells
her to go home but Sylvia refuses, causing them to accept to work together and kiss. Sylvia does want
to call home though, so Will gives her the gun to protect herself while he watches from the corner.
Weis quickly picks up Sylvia's call and ignores her insults to warn her the Timekeepers are coming
to get her. When Sylvia turns around, she sees Leon approaching Will, thus she shoots him in the
arm. Will takes the chance to check Leon's timer and learns Timekeepers don't keep much time with
them to discourage thieves, this prompts Will to give Leon some time in order for his coworkers to
rescue him. While Will and Sylvia escape in Leon's car, Leon begins walking out of town as everyone
yells at him for not protecting the little people. Thankfully his fellow keeper rescues him before
things get violent. Sometime later Sylvia points out they can't keep driving in a cop car, which
gives Will an idea. He pretends to be a Timekeeper to stop another car by the road and then they
proceed to steal the rich lady's earrings and her time, leaving her with only one day before
running away in her car. Once they're far enough from town, they stop the car to watch the news and
they discover they're now wanted people. Will once again tells Sylvia to go back, but she refuses
because doing this is much more fulfilling. Meanwhile Weis is lying to his investors, telling
them everything is under control. Leon shows up to inform him this isn't a kidnapping anymore,
now Sylvia is being chased after like a criminal as well. Weis tries to bribe Leon into changing
his mind, but Leon turns him down and reminds him that if Sylvia gets in contact with him, he needs
to tell the keepers, otherwise he'll be arrested for being an accomplice. Later, Sylvia asks Will
if he truly would give away time if he had it. When Will confirms he would, she comes up with
a plan. The pair proceeds to steal a Weis money truck and they crash it into a time bank, where
they steal as many time capsules as they can. The remaining capsules are left for the people in the
ghetto to grab. By the time the Timekeepers arrive, there's nothing left. In the evening,
Greta finds a time capsule among her laundry, left by Will as an apology. Will also visit Maya,
who is sleeping on the streets, and he leaves some extra time for her as well. The rest of the
time they stole is taken to the Time Line for the clerk to distribute among anyone that needs it.
At the Timekeepers' office, Leon notices there's time that shouldn't be there and he thinks Will's
hurting the very people he's trying to help. The next morning, Fortis tries to rob a man, but the
guy can finally stand up for himself because he bought a gun. Fortis pretends to let him go,
but as soon as the guy turns around, he shoots the man anyway. When Fortis checks the guy's timer,
he's shocked to see he's wasted a lot of time. Will and Sylvia begin robbing time banks all
over the place, and their adventures appear on the news. Weis wonders if his daughter was trying to
kill him, but his wife points out that Weis almost killed her first by suffocating her. A week later,
Leon and his men finally find Will's apartment and get ready to arrest them. However Will hears
the radio chatter from the window and immediately runs away with Sylvia, bursting into a different
apartment to jump through a window at the back of the building, not getting hurt thanks to a
safe landing on top of a car. Leon copies them and starts to chase them through town, and when
Will and Sylvia take the chase to the roofs, Leon opens fire on them. Will shoots back but fails,
so he and Sylvia get off the roofs and take the bus. The driver considers the idea of handing
them to the authorities, but Will bribes him into silence and they get to leave Leon behind. A few
hours later, Will and Sylvia check in at a hotel, paying extra to have all the rooms and for the
receptionist not to tell anyone. When a new client comes in, he's told the hotel is fully booked,
but he manages to get a quick view of Will and Sylvia going upstairs. Later, Fortis and his
men begin threatening people on the streets for information on Will and Sylvia. At first people
stay silent because they want to protect their savors, but Fortis then kills a man to show how
serious he is. This inspires the guy from the hotel to confess what he saw. At the hotel,
Will and Sylvia learn that the reward for their heads is ten years, which they consider pretty
insulting. Suddenly Fortis bursts into the room with his men and hold the couple at gunpoint
while Fortis explains the Timekeepers leave him alone because he steals from his own people,
so now he must restore order. He claims he doesn't like killing people in cold blood
and challenges Will to a time-fight. Will uses the trick his father taught him and when Henry begins
looking at his timer, Will begins taking all his time. The guards come closer to watch in shock,
and Will takes the chance to shoot them all before he makes Fortis time out for good. By the
time the Timekeepers arrive at the hotel, Will and Sylvia are already gone. Some hours later,
Will notices prices and loan rates are being raised faster to make up for the new time on
the streets. Their little robberies aren't making a difference, they would need a whole million
years to even make a crack. Fortunately, Sylvia knows where to find such an amount. The next day,
Weis is worried about the situation and goes to work surrounded by more bodyguards than usual.
The guards suddenly turn around when they detect a threat, but it's just Sylvia announcing she wants
to surrender. Weis believes her and is ready to take her back, this distraction allows Will to
sneak behind him and capture him as a hostage. Then Will and Sylvia take Weis to his office to
make him open the safe where he keeps a capsule with one million years. Weis points out that
giving a year to a million people only prolongs their agony and that flooding the wrong Zone with
a million years could cripple the system, so Will clarifies that's exactly what he wants to happen.
Will and Sylvia escape after locking Weis in his own office. When the Timekeepers learn about the
robbery they immediately go after them, blocking the bridge to stop them from returning to the
ghetto. Leon is chasing them as well and when he finds them, he concentrates so much on them that
he forgets to get his daily pay. The keepers open fire on them but Will just ignores the bullets at
drives through the time zone barrier, allowing him to reach the ghetto. Leon wastes no time and
crashes his car against theirs. Will immediately leaves the vehicle and gives the million years
capsule to Maya before he and Sylvia pretend to surrender. A smug Leon thinks he's won, but at
that moment, the Time Line announces there's time for everyone, and an eager crowd fills the street,
getting in Leon's way and allowing Sylvia and Will to run away. Leon pushes people aside to get back
in his car and go after the robbers, but when they cross another barrier, Leon has to follow
them on foot. Eventually he catches up to them, and Will guesses Leon used to be from the ghetto
too. Leon confirms this and explains he worked hard to get out, which is how things should be,
then he tries to arrest them. Will points out there's no point because he and Sylvia only have
a few minutes left, so they'll die soon anyway. This makes Leon check his own timer and realizes
he doesn't have much time either because he didn't collect his pay. At that instant, his clock times
out and Leon dies right there on the road. Will and Sylvia only have seconds left, and they kiss
to say goodbye. However Will realizes the keepers have time in their vehicles, so he runs to Leon's
car to take some for himself. Sylvia isn't as fast as him and fears she won't make it, but Will runs
back to her and they meet halfway, allowing them to share time before death catches them. Back
in the company, Weis has given up and tells his employees not to do anything because it's over.
Newscasts all over the nation show how people have taken to the streets. The factories lie idle,
and people are crossing the zones to make it to New Greenwich. Authorities swear everything
is under control, but everyone knows the system will soon collapse. At the Timekeepers' office,
the employees decide to go home because there's nothing they can do. Will and Sylvia are never
caught, and they start going after bigger banks to keep the old system from coming back.