At the opening we see the prime minister of some unknown country in southeast Asia is signing a deal with an Americal company named Cardiff for water systems. Just after the deal is signed and other people move, prime minister gets killed. Now the movie goes in flashback where we see Jack Dwyer who is an employee of the Cardiff company, landing in the country along with his wife and two daughters. After coming out from the airport, Hammond gives them a ride to their hotel.
They are staying at the hotel named Imperial Lotus along with many other people from different countries. After reaching there, Jack comes to know that there is no television signal or no phones are working. The whole city is isolated from rest of the world. He meets Hammond again at the bar and chats with him. Next day, Jack tries to find a newspaper seller on the street. But he gets caught in the confrontation going on between the police and demonstrators with different arms.