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.
