Newcomers to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari, Catherine (Nicole Kidman) and Matthew Parker’s (Joseph Fiennes) lives are flung into crisis when they discover their two teenage kids, Tommy (Nicholas Hamilton) and Lily (Maddison Brown), have mysteriously disappeared just before a massive dust storm hits.

With Nathgari eerily smothered in red dust and darkness, the townsfolk join the search led by local cop, David Rae (Hugo Weaving), but it soon becomes apparent that something terrible may have happened to the children.

Suspicion is cast, rumours spread and the town begins to turn against the Parkers.  With temperatures rising and the chances of survival plummeting with each passing day, Catherine and Matthew find themselves pushed to the brink as they struggle to survive the mystery of their children’s fate.