It begins on a rainy evening at John F. Kennedy Airport, where high school student Alex Browning boards Volée Airlines Flight 180. It is supposed to be the start of an unforgettable senior trip to Paris, a milestone of freedom and celebration. But as Alex moves through the bustling terminal, a sense of unease clings to him like a shadow. Boarding the massive Boeing 747 with his classmates, including his best friend Tod Waggner and his rival Carter Horton, Alex tries to shake off the feeling, convincing himself it’s just nerves. Yet, as the plane fills with excited chatter, his growing dread morphs into something far more visceral—a vision.
In an instant, Alex is no longer in his seat but experiencing a vivid premonition. He watches in helpless terror as the plane suffers a catastrophic mechanical failure, leading to a fiery mid-air explosion that claims the lives of everyone aboard. Gasping, drenched in sweat, Alex jolts back to reality, his heart pounding. But as the moments unfold, Alex begins to notice details from his vision playing out in real time. His fear boils over into panic, and he pleads with the crew and passengers to leave the plane.
A scuffle breaks out between Alex and Carter, causing a commotion that leads to their removal from the flight. Along with them are Tod, Carter’s girlfriend Terry Chaney, the stern teacher Valerie Lewton, the quirky Billy Hitchcock, and the reserved Clear Rivers. The group watches from the terminal as the plane takes off, their emotions ranging from anger to disbelief—until, in a horrifying twist, Alex’s nightmare becomes reality. The plane erupts into a fireball in the sky, confirming Alex’s worst fears and leaving the survivors in stunned silence.
In the aftermath, FBI agents Weine and Schreck interrogate the survivors, their suspicion of Alex evident. Though cleared of any immediate wrongdoing, Alex’s reputation is tarnished. His classmates view him with unease, and whispers of his supposed foresight swirl. Only Clear, empathetic and curious, offers him any semblance of trust.
A month later, grief hangs heavy over the survivors as they attend a memorial for their lost friends. That night, tragedy strikes again. Tod dies in his bathroom, the result of a bizarre chain reaction that ends with him hanging from a shower cord. Though ruled a suicide, Alex cannot shake the feeling that something darker is at play. He convinces Clear to accompany him to the funeral home, where they meet the enigmatic mortician, William Bludworth. With an eerie calm, Bludworth reveals that by escaping the plane, they have disrupted Death’s design. Now, Death is methodically reclaiming its due.
The grim realization sets Alex on edge, and he becomes obsessed with finding a way to outwit fate. But before he can warn the others, Death strikes again. While the survivors gather at a café to discuss their next steps, Terry steps into the street, her frustration with Carter boiling over. She turns to scold him, only to be struck and killed by a speeding bus. The horrifying spectacle leaves the group reeling, cementing the idea that Death is stalking them.
Desperate for answers, Alex pieces together a chilling pattern: the survivors are dying in the order they would have perished on the plane. Armed with this knowledge, Alex races against time to warn Ms. Lewton, but he is too late. In her home, an accident involving a kitchen knife and a gas explosion claims her life in a grisly display.
As the remaining survivors—Alex, Clear, Carter, and Billy—regroup, tension mounts. Carter, consumed by grief over Terry’s death, spirals into recklessness. He drives aimlessly through town, tempting fate by stopping his car on a railroad track as a train approaches. Though Alex manages to pull him to safety at the last second, a shard of metal from the collision decapitates Billy. The group realizes that Alex’s intervention caused Death to skip Carter and move on to its next target.
Haunted and believing himself to be next, Alex retreats to an isolated cabin, fortifying it against any potential hazards. But as he obsesses over his vision, he recalls a detail he initially overlooked—he had swapped seats with two classmates before the crash. This revelation changes everything: Clear is now the next target.
Rushing to her home, Alex finds her trapped in her car, surrounded by downed electrical wires sparking against a pool of gasoline. Weine and Schreck, still convinced Alex is responsible for the deaths, pursue him, complicating his efforts. Ignoring his own safety, Alex grabs a live cable, diverting the current long enough for Clear to escape just as the car explodes.
Six months later, Alex, Clear, and Carter find themselves in Paris, seeking closure. The City of Light offers them a brief respite, but unease lingers. Over dinner, Alex reveals his belief that Death never truly skipped him. The realization reignites their fears, and as Alex leaves the table, a bus narrowly misses him, triggering a chain reaction. A parking sign is hurled into the air, slamming into a neon sign that teeters ominously above. In a split second, Carter pushes Alex out of harm’s way, only to find himself in the path of the falling sign. The metal crashes down, killing Carter instantly.
As Clear and Alex stare in horror, it becomes clear that their battle with fate is far from over. The shadow of Death looms, indifferent and inevitable, as they brace for the unknown. Their survival is no longer a triumph—it is merely a delay.
