A mysterious traveler blackmails a young TSA agent into letting a dangerous package slip through security and onto a Christmas Eve flight.
It's Christmas Eve and young TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Edgerton) receives a call from someone else's earpiece and finds himself caught up in a deadly game. A stranger (Jason Bateman) demands to let a package of explosives onto a flight, threatening the life of Ethan's lover (Sofia Carson).—Tango Papa
Ethan is a security executive in an international airport in the United States. While on duty one day he is blackmailed into clearing a package of explosives carried by a passenger. This sets off a chain of hectic events where he attempts to avert a catastrophe.—Madan Marwah
Los Angeles International Airport TSA officer Ethan Kopek, who failed the police academy by hiding his father's criminal past, has grown cynical and unambitious. Nora, his expectant girlfriend, urges him to reapply and follow his dream on Christmas Eve. Instead, Ethan asks Phil Sarkowski, his boss, to put him in charge of a baggage-scanning lane so he can prove himself worthy of a promotion.
A vicious mercenary known as the Traveler contacts Ethan via an earbud he receives during his shift and demands that he allow a particular carry-on case to go through the scanner, failing which Nora will be killed. Through the surveillance system, the Watcher, the Traveler's accomplice, keeps an eye on Ethan and prevents him from informing the authorities. Using a message written in invisible ink, Ethan surreptitiously alerts his workplace colleague Lionel. But before Lionel can do anything, the Traveler poisons him with aconite, which results in a heart attack that kills him.
Ethan's friend Jason fills in for him because of his seemingly unpredictable behavior. Ethan is forced to fire Jason by accusing him of being intoxicated at work after the Traveler threatens to kill him in order to remove him from the scanner. Following instructions, Ethan allows Mateo Flores to enter with the carry-on bag. The contents are then revealed by the Traveler: Novichok, a nerve agent that is fatal and incurable.
As she looks into a double homicide, LAPD detective Elena Cole learns that Novichok was brought into the nation illegally by the victims. Cole links Ethan's canceled 911 call to the threat and notifies the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In response, a sweep of the entire terminal is mandated. Mateo is added to the list of travelers who have been flagged for inspection by Ethan. But the Traveler confronts Ethan in the bathroom after suspecting him of meddling. The Traveler's plastic gun is taken by Ethan. The Traveler retaliates by arming the Novichok bomb.
Sarkowski takes Mateo away for examination, but Ethan stops him, threatening to shoot both of them. Mateo stabs Sarkowski to death because Ethan will not shoot him. Mateo admits that because the Watcher is holding his husband, Jesse, hostage, he is also being forced. As time runs out, Ethan is guided by the Traveler to reset the bomb. Mateo is then told to murder Ethan, but he is killed when the plastic gun overheats and detonates. After getting the Novichok case back, the Traveler gives the Watcher the order to murder Nora. Ethan warns her via Mateo's phone. The Watcher, who is eventually killed by Jesse, barely escapes Nora.
Cole quickly discovers he is an impostor and one of the Traveler's accomplices while traveling to the airport with DHS agent John Alcott. Cole then kills him in self-defense. When she gets to the airport, she confronts Ethan, verifies the threat is real, and notifies the LAPD, which causes the terminal to close. Cole learns that a congresswoman who supports more funding for weapons is the Traveler's target and that she is traveling to Washington, D.C. The goal of the Novichok attack is to implicate Russia in order to secure congressional approval of significant defense spending, which will benefit the weapons manufacturers.
Unaware that Ethan had moved the bomb into a larger but identical suitcase and had to store it in the cargo hold of the aircraft, the Traveler boards the flight. In order to disarm the bomb, Ethan sneaks into the hold, and Nora convinces Cole to let the plane take off so the Traveler will not be suspicious. The Traveler gets a warning and approaches Ethan at gunpoint as he starts to disassemble the bomb. Ethan kills the Traveler by locking him in an airtight refrigeration unit with the nerve agent before he can re-arm the Novichok and parachute out. The aircraft lands back at the airport without incident.
A year later, as they get ready to go to Tahiti with Jason and his family, Ethan, Nora, and their child go through a TSA checkpoint. Ethan inserts his badge from the LAPD into the scanning tray.
