The movie begins with a family of 3 who
has been living inside a nuclear bunker for
301 days. The parents, Ray and Claire, have always
emphasized two key rules to their daughter, Zoey:
To always remain calm and never leave the shelter.
Sadly, the world above them has been deserted due
to a strange viral outbreak. And now they are the
only survivors left. Although it has been 301 days
since the infection started, the ground is still
extremely dangerous, as the epidemic has given
birth to dangerous creatures called the
“Breathers,” who kill any humans on sight.
The scene shifts to 301 days ago, where it first
began. The family of three is living in a peaceful
neighborhood when suddenly they notice their
neighbors start frantically packing to leave town.
When asked what happened, the neighbors do
not answer but swiftly drive away instead.
It turns out that a highly contagious
viral epidemic has hit their small town
named Kingsville. Scared of getting infected,
the inhabitants leave their homes and drive
through the highway to escape. However, they
are stopped midway by the CDC, who declare the
area to be under quarantine. As the people
step out of their cars, a pair of fighter
jets drops multiple bombs at them, attacking
the scared citizens as they run away in fear.
Amidst the chaos, Ray leads the family to a
nearby elementary school. Just as the fighter
jets drop another bomb nearby, they find a
hatch leading to the shelter and enter it.
Back in the present, Zoe wakes up
one night after having a nightmare
of the ‘Breathers’ infiltrating their shelter. The
mother quickly calms her down, assuring that she
is safe as her dad, Ray, is out keeping watch.
To ease her concerns, Claire takes Zoe to meet
Ray, who is just returning from his watch shift.
Ray further assures her that she’s safe and allows
her to climb a ladder leading to the shelter’s
exit. When Zoe reaches the top, she discovers
that the opening is firmly locked with an array
of secured chains. Seeing this, a paranoid Zoe
is finally convinced and returns to her parents
as the family heads for the shelter’s pantry.
In there, Zoe, alongside Claire, conducts their
morning ritual of carving a line on a wall
to signify a new day. After doing
this, Zoe counts the wall’s markings
and realizes that they have spent a total of
301 days alone in the shelter. This realization
saddens Zoe as she has no friends her age and
is tired of staying in the gloomy shelter.
A few minutes later, Zoe sits to have breakfast
while Claire scans the pantry shelf for food.
However, they soon discover that the
container is empty. On investigating,
Claire finds that a rat had entered the pantry
and eaten through most of the canned foods. Thus,
shortening their already limited options.
The family also discovers that the rat managed
to sneak into the shelter through an opening other
than the main barricaded hatch. They find a small
air duct, but Ray reassures Zoe that the Breathers
wouldn’t be able to fit through the duct.
Left with very few alternatives and
no remaining peach cans, the family
settles for a plate of beans for breakfast.
A disappointed Zoe sulks over the beans and
picks at her meal as she refrains from eating.
Weary of their situation, Zoe rants about the
subpar living conditions, and complains
of being cooped up in the shelter.
Ray understands her, and consoles his distraught
daughter as he explains the importance of staying
in the shelter to hide from The Breathers.
Eventually, Zoe sees reason and resumes eating
after Ray cracks a joke to brighten her mood.
Later that night, Claire joins Zoe in the other
room. The duo plays monopoly, but Zoe soon
gets disinterested and bored of the game.
Seeing this, Claire hands Zoe a periscope
to view the ground above. Looking through
the device, Zoe sees the outside world but is
disappointed to find nothing but a wasteland.
After the brief viewing, Zoe returns to play
monopoly with Claire at the dinner table.
While playing, Zoe spots the rat munching on
one of the cans and silently alerts her mum.
Eventually, she also calls a sleeping Ray to the
pantry as the trio decides on how to kill the rat.
After a long process, Claire kills the
rat before it escapes, but in the process,
the rodent knocks over one of the lamps
which explodes, causing an overwhelming fire.
Claire instantly brings a cloth and tries to put
off the flames while Ray heads for the pump to get
water. Once again, the faulty pump malfunctions,
causing Ray to struggle with the lever while
Claire screams at him for help. Fortunately,
Ray gets it to work in time, and together,
the duo puts out the intense flames.
When the fire had been fully quenched,
the family discovers that the residual smoke
had entered the air vents and was escaping
to the ground above. Seeing this, the family
figures that the Breathers could see the ash
on the overhead ground and decides to
head to the surface to cover their tracks.
After instructing Zoe not to leave the
shelter, the couple heads for the surface
to get rid of the residual ashes.
While the couple clears the ground,
Zoe watches them through the periscope.
Right then, she sees a strange figure
lurking behind her parents and assumes
it to be a Breather. Zoe screams to get
her parents’ attention, but the couple, who
are a long distance away, doesn’t hear her.
Disregarding their instructions, Zoe opens the
hatch and exits the shelter as she races to
her parents to warn them of the lurking creature.
Outside, Zoe finds no one and screams their names
as she wanders around searching for them.
Suddenly, Claire pops up behind Zoe and
shuts her mouth to stop her incessant
screams. When Claire releases Zoe,
the little girl warns the couple of the strange
figure she saw behind them. Learning this, the
trio immediately sprints to the opening
hatch and heads for the shelter.
Just as they enter the underground facility, the
family hears the loud footsteps of a Breather
plodding the overhead ground. To avoid
being discovered, they all remain mute
as they nervously listen to the footsteps on
the roof. Just as the footsteps begin fading,
Zoe’s doll makes a ruckus after her rope
accidentally gets caught in a nearby pipe.
Horrified by the doll’s sounds, Ray swiftly
grabs the toy, and destroys it to prevent it
from attracting the creature. However, it is
too late as the Breather had heard the doll,
and violently hits the hatch to
access the underground shelter.
Seeing this, Ray and Claire climb up the
ladder and successfully wedges the door. Hence,
stopping the creature from breaking in.
On hearing no further sounds, Claire and
Ray climb down the ladder and reunite with
Zoe as they all heave a sigh of relief.
However, this is short-lived as the
sounds on the roof intensify. Thus,
revealing that more of the creatures had arrived.
The family tries to get another wedge for the
hatch, but before they can react, the Breathers
destroy it as the heavy metal falls to the ground.
Seeing this, the trio sprints to
another room in a quest to escape.
To buy some time, Claire hauls a lamp at the
passageway, which causes a fire. Afterwhich, she
and Ray use a shelf to further obstruct the way.
Upon doing this, they search for an alternate
exit and decide to go through the vents.
With Ray’s help, Claire passes the tight
opening and emerges outside. Reaching the
overhead ground, Claire scans the area and,
fortunately, spots no Breathers.
Claire quickly informs Ray,
who, on hearing this, also helps Zoe through the
vents. When mother and daughter make it through,
Ray tries to also climb up the airway but
can’t seem to fit. In a desperate attempt,
Ray dislocates his shoulder and tries to fit in.
However, before he can make it outside,
the Breathers make it through and attack
the injured man, causing him to fall back
into the shelter. On looking down, Claire and
Zoe are horrified to see a splatter of blood
and eventually assume that Ray is dead.
After taking a moment to grieve him,
the duo sprints through the dark roads and
emerge on a highway filled with a lineup of
empty cars. Right then, a helicopter with
a bright headlight appears in the sky.
Seeing the chopper, the duo runs
in the opposite direction. However,
they don’t make it far before they get
captured by a fired net. As they struggle
to free themselves from the net, the Breathers
appear from the shadows and surround the duo.
As they step into the light, we learn that
the Breathers are, in fact, not monstrous
creatures at all, but actually, American
soldiers wearing full protective face masks.
In a flashback scene, 301 days ago, we see Claire
and the family right after the aerial attack.
In the bunker, Claire finds a cut on her hand and
shows the rest of her family as it turns black,
signifying that she is infected. Seeing this,
the family realizes that the virus is airborne
and has now infected the entire town.
Back to the present, the armed men ask
the duo to calm down as they whip out a syringe to
test them for the virus. As the soldiers extract
their blood, they discover that the pair are
indeed infected. Learning this, the army men
surround them with guns and prepare to fire.
However, before they pull the trigger.
Ray, who has transformed into a vampire-like
creature with black veins and bloodshot eyes,
attacks the soldiers exhibiting superhuman
strength. He manages to kill a handful of them,
but ultimately gets taken down by the
others who riddle him with bullets.
Here, we get a shocking revelation of the true
nature of the virus. The family is actually the
infected ones, while the Breathers are just
normal people. The virus though contagious,
is not lethal, as the infected can live an almost
normal life as long as they do not “lose control.”
Then we discover why Ray and Claire insisted
on the rule to always “stay calm” at the start
of the movie. Apparently, the infected can
lose control of their emotions and turn into
monsters. However, if they stay calm,
they remain like normal humans. Sadly,
this does not rule out the fact that they are
infected and that the army wants to kill them all.
When the soldiers are done with Ray, they look
back at the net but discover that Claire and
Zoe have escaped. A few moments later, Zoe hides
in a car while Claire transforms into the same
vampire-like state and easily knocks out three of
the four remaining soldiers. However, she is shot
and injured by the last surviving soldier.
Just as the armed man is about to take the
final shot, a transformed Zoe jumps
at him and removes his face mask,
exposing him to the virus. Zoe tries killing
the soldier but is ultimately stopped by Claire.
Eventually, the duo leaves the man and walks down
the highway as they search for Ray. A few meters
away, the duo finds a dying Ray lying on the
floor, and tearfully say their final goodbyes.
Shortly after, Claire and Zoe spot a
chopper approaching, and on seeing this,
run into an underground tunnel hidden
under a pile of destroyed wood.
As the pair heads inside the
tunnel, they run into Joey,
the son of their next-door neighbors, who they
last saw a year ago, at the start of the outbreak.
The little boy leads them to a hatch and,
on opening it, reveals a sewer system.
Inside, Claire and Zoe discover that
there are other infected survivors
who have been living in the Kingsville sewers
for months. Seeing this, mother and daughter
are relieved to have other people like them.
Zoe climbs down the hatch to join the welcoming
group, with Claire following shortly after.
The movie ends as Claire stares into the
sun with bloodshot eyes before
ultimately shutting the hatch.
