The movie begins with Jeff Taylor and his wife
Amy driving cross-country from Boston to San Diego in their sleek new Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Faced with recent financial challenges, they've made the bold decision to relocate in search
of better opportunities.
However, their car is on loan, adding pressure to their quest for stability and debt repayment
in the new city.
During their eventful trip, as Jeff reaches for a bottle in the back seat,
a worn-out pickup truck abruptly emerges, demanding Jeff'sswift reflexes to evade a collision, and he
firmly blames the driver for his reckless driving.
Taking a break at a gas station to refuel and grab some snacks, Jeff and Amy find themselves
unexpectedly face-to-face with Earl, the truck driver from earlier.
Initially, Earl admires Jeff's car, but quickly transitions to criticizing Jeff for the near-collision
on the road.
Wanting to avoid any further conflict, Jeff offers a sincere apology,
urging Earl to forget about it and move on.
Despite Jeff's attempts to diffuse the situation, Earl departs in a fit of anger, leaving Jeff
and Amy to resume their journey to San Diego.
Everything is going fine as they chat about a stroke of luck—an astonishing $90,000
lottery win from a junk food purchase.
However, their smooth journey takes an unexpected turn when their car breaks down, leaving them
stranded in the middle of nowhere, waiting anxiously for assistance.
The husband tries to call for assistance, but to no avail because the signal is out of reach.
Luck appears to be on their side when a passing truck catches their attention.
But it turns out to be Earl's truck, which is unfortunate because he doesn't stop and instead
mocks them.
His arrival sparks concern, as his intentions seem less than favorable when he turns his
car around to face them.
Just as tension mounts, a large truck pulls up alongside Jeff's vehicle, forcing Earl
to abandon his plans, and leave the scene swiftly.
Warren, the nice truck driver, extends his assistance to the couple, offering to assess
the car's condition.
After a quick examination, he suspects the vehicle may have overheated, and he suggests
dropping them off at a nearby diner five miles away, where they can use the pay phone to
arrange a tow truck.
Despite the generous offer, Jeff decides to wait on the road, allowing the car some time
to cool down before attempting to restart it.
Amy thinks of taking the ride to call for a tow truck, while also grabbing refreshing
cold beverages to combat the scorching summer heat.
With Jeff's approval, she gets into the truck, leaving him behind with the car.
After a period of waiting on the road, Jeff inspects the car once more, discovering that
a few wires had come loose, which was the cause of the breakdown.
The car works again after the wires are connected, allowing Jeff to proceed straight to the diner
to meet his wife.
The husband arrives at the mentioned diner, however, to his dismay, Amy is nowhere to
be found.
Despite questioning the rude bartender and other patrons, Jeff doesn't get a lead.
After leaving a message for Amy with the bartender, Jeff sets off to search the town.
Along the way, he spots a truck resembling Warren's, and tries to flag down the driver.
Surprisingly, the driver turns out to be Warren himself, but Amy is absent.
When questioned, Warren claims to have no knowledge of a woman, and insists he has never
met Jeff before.
Puzzled, Jeff peeks inside the truck, but finds nothing.
At that moment, a police car grabs his attention, prompting him to seek assistance.
Deputy Len Carver emerges from the vehicle, and upon hearing Jeff's concerns, initiates
an investigation into Warren, who insists that he has never met Jeff or Amy.
The cop then proceeds to examine his truck, but despite a thorough inspection, no signs
of a struggle or evidence linking Warren to Amy's disappearance are found.
Eventually, Deputy Len begins to trust Warren's side of the story, considering the possibility
that Jeff may have confused the two similar-looking trucks.
He also suggests that Amy might have left willingly, citing similar cases he has encountered,
but Jeff remains unwilling to accept this theory, as he knows his relationship with
his wife.
With no concrete evidence, Deputy Len releases Warren, leaving Jeff feeling helpless, convinced
that Amy was in that truck.
At the police station, his anxiety intensifies as he observes numerous photographs of missing
individuals, particularly middle-aged women like Amy.
As it hasn't been 24 hours since Amy's disappearance, the police won't take action unless they receive
a ransom call or find evidence of forced abduction.
Filled with distress and fear for his wife's safety, Jeff turns to the bartender once again,
hoping for more information about Amy.
Unfortunately, his inquiries yield unsatisfactory responses.
Growing increasingly desperate, Jeff decides to force the bartender to show him the customer
receipts, hoping to determine if Amy has visited the diner.
A heated argument erupts between them, and it gets so bad that the bartender brandishes
a gun, pointing it at Jeff, compelling him to leave the diner.
A glimmer of hope emerges when an innocent man named Billy steps forward, claiming to
have seen Amy.
According to Billy, Amy arrived at the diner in one truck, went inside, and then left with
another man in a different truck.
Billy reveals that the man took her towards route seven by the river, and when Jeff seeks
additional information, Billy explains that they don't share such details with him, his
gaze fixed on the bartender who has just come outside to monitor Jeff.
Jeff then urges Billy to accompany him to the police, but Billy dismissively calls him
a dummy, and asserts that the police are involved in the situation.
Left with no other choice, Jeff decides to take matters into his own hands and heads
straight to route seven in search of Amy.
However, he is met with a shocking encounter when the road is closed, and he comes face-to-face
with the armed Earl.
Filled with confusion, Jeff quickly reverses his car and attempts to escape, with Earl
relentlessly pursuing him.
The road is blocked by two vehicles, forcing Jeff to veer off onto a different path, only
to find himself at a dead end.
With Earl closing in, he takes a daring plunge down the slope, causing his car to crash into the river.
In a bid to escape from Earl's clutches, Jeff decides to abandon the vehicle.
He follows the water's flow, and successfully evades the immediate danger.
Though his car is now being taken by Earl, he has managed to survive, which really matters
in the end.
But all of the sudden,
he is apprehended by an unexpected member of the gang—Billy, the seemingly
innocent guy outside the diner.
Jeff finds out that Earl and Billy are the ones who took his wife, Amy, and that they
are holding her for ransom.
Amy had mentioned that Jeff has $90,000 in their home bank account, and the husband has
a sudden realization when Earl says something about junk food.
Unbeknownst to the criminals, $90,000 is merely a number the couple noticed on a piece of
junk food during their journey.
As Jeff steps out of the car, he is astonished to come face to face with Warren, who happens
to be the mastermind behind the gang.
Without wasting time, he instructs Jeff to make his way to the town, and personally relay
to the bank manager his request for a prompt wire transfer from his account.
Time is of the essence, as Jeff must secure the funds within the next fifty minutes, before
Deputy Len concludes his patrol.
Warren tells Jeff that they’ll be watching him every step of the way, and he will send
him pieces of his wife from time to time if he fails to do it.
And so, Jeff is forced to follow Warren's instructions, and heads directly to the town's
bank, fully aware that he only has $5,000 in the bank.
Inside the bank, the manager sees Jeff's distress and becomes suspicious, wondering if something
is wrong with him.
He tries telling the truth at one point, but the presence of a suspicious individual within
the bank prevents him from doing so.
The bank manager appears to have gotten his hint, and he asks him to hold tight while
they bring the cash.
While waiting for the transaction to unfold, Jeff seizes the moment to discreetly explore
the bathroom for a potential weapon.
Regrettably, he comes up empty-handed as nothing suitable fits into his clothing.
When he goes back to the table, he gets lucky and finds a blade that the bank manager left
there on purpose.
After getting the money, he gets further instructions to locate a car on the main road.
Shortly after that, Earl arrives, demanding Jeff's obedience and the surrender of the money.
Despite Jeff's desire to see his wife first, the sight of Earl brandishing a pistol leaves
him with no alternative, and instead, he gets hit in the face.
With Jeff's hands securely duct-taped, Earl contacts his partners, while admitting that
he tampered with the wires in Jeff's car at the gas station, and that his group intends
to kill them anyway.
Jeff persists in using the stolen sharp tool to cut through the tape, and when Earl opens
the bag, he finds bundles of one-dollar bills instead of the expected $90,000.
After a fierce struggle, Jeff manages to take control of the car from Earl, who is restrained
with his hands and neck bound to the seat.
By accelerating the vehicle and repeatedly breaking to choke Earl, he tortures Earl into
disclosing Amy's whereabouts, which are at a truck stop.
Just as things seem to be falling into place, Deputy Len unexpectedly arrives on the scene,
ordering Jeff to stop the car.
Mistakenly perceiving Jeff as a criminal, Deputy Len disregards Jeff's pleas about Amy's
abduction and Earl's involvement in the case.
Seizing the opportunity, Earl escapes the vehicle, and fires at Deputy Len before going
after Jeff.
However, before he can hurt him, the injured officer retaliates and shoots Earl, rendering
him immobile.
After calling for an ambulance through the police radio to assist Deputy Len, Jeff embarks
on his mission to locate Amy at the truck station.
At the truck station, Jeff locates Warren having a conversation with Billy over the phone.
Sensing an hour-long silence from Earl, Warren instructs Billy to bring Amy to his barn for
a crucial discussion regarding her destiny.
Initially intent on apprehending Warren, Jeff's priorities shift upon learning about Amy's
whereabouts.
As the boss of the gang leaves for his house, Jeff seizes the opportunity to catch a ride
on the truck's base, successfully finding a hiding spot.
After a lengthy journey, Warren arrives at his barn, where he is greeted by his son Deke,
and wife, Arlene.
Taking advantage of Warren opening the barn gate to unload items, Jeff seizes the moment
to scale the roof, and gain entry through a window.
Inside, he discovers that Amy is not the gang's sole abductee; the barn is filled with the
belongings of previous victims.
Shortly after that, Billy and Al arrive with Amy, who turns out dead due to the intense
heat of the truck's exhaust.
Jeff is stunned to hear this, while the men decide to bury the body.
However, Amy unexpectedly awakens, revealing that she had only fallen asleep or lost consciousness.
As the abductors prepare to lock Amy in the basement fridge, she catches a glimpse of
Jeff's eyes peering down at her from above.
They then take Amy down to the basement, and lock her up there.
Once the gang leaves to have dinner, Jeff searches for tools and attempts to open the
basement lock, but his efforts prove futile.
Determined to take more drastic action, he retrieves a gun from the truck, and sneaks
into the house to look for the bad guys.
During dinner, they are shocked when Jeff unexpectedly appears at Warren's home.
Jeff holds him at gunpoint while revealing his true profession to Arlene, and that his
wife is being held hostage in their barn.
Before Jeff can persuade them to comply with his demands, Deke suddenly appears, aiming
a rifle at him.
The kid says that the gun is always loaded to protect his mother, and so Warren and his
wife commands Deke to pull the trigger, but Jeff says the child and the mother have nothing
to do with this.
Jeff manages to intervene just in time, redirecting the gunshot towards Al, while Billy cunningly
escapes capture.
With Warren held at gunpoint, Jeff forces him into unlocking the basement door, and
instructs Arlene to reveal what's inside the refrigerator.
To her horror, she discovers Amy inside, solidifying her realization of her husband's involvement
in the abductions.
Jeff then decides to confine everyone else in the basement, while Warren still feels
he needs to warn Jeff.
Afterwards, they spot a tow truck outside the house, so the husband and Amy make a desperate
move to escape, but the truck key is not there.
At the same time, Billy returns to the house and releases the bad guys from basement.
Amy struggles to find the key around the place and finally spot it, but their troubles persist
as Warren arrives with his big truck.
Just before Warren can unleash the full force of his truck upon them, the couple narrowly
manages to evade his assault and flee to safety.
As the couple drives, they become aware that they are being pursued by Warren and his accomplices,
who are driving their own vehicles.
In the chaos of the pursuit, Warren's control over his truck weakens due to traffic, leading
to a collision that demolishes Al's vehicle in the process.
In a final desperate pursuit, Warren relentlessly chases Jeff until they reach a bridge, where
he ultimately gains the upper hand over the couple.
Tragedy strikes as Warren's truck runs over Amy's car, trapping her leg in the wreckage.
As they tremble perilously on the edge of the bridge, Jeff escapes from his car to confront
Warren directly.
The truck dangles precariously from the bridge, unfolding a life-or-death struggle between
Jeff and Warren.
As they struggle for control, Warren secures a chain around his wrist, intending to use
it against Jeff.
In a twist of fate, Jeff manages to gain the upper hand, causing Warren to plummet onto
the rocks below that claim his life.
Jeff swiftly ascends, and assists Amy in freeing her trapped leg.
Once out of the car, they share a heartfelt embrace.
They finally turn their attention to the one who caused all of this suffering, only to
find him miraculously alive.
This makes Amy so angry that she triggers the truck to plummet, crushing Warren beneath it.