Seven years after he survived the monster apocalypse, lovably hapless Joel leaves his cozy underground bunker behind on a quest to reunite with his high school sweetheart.
Seven years after the Monsterpocalypse, Joel Dawson (Dylan O'Brien), along with the rest of humanity, has been living underground ever since giant creatures took control of the land. After reconnecting over radio with his high school girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick), who is now 80 miles away at a coastal colony, Joel begins to fall for her again. As Joel realizes that there's nothing left for him underground, he decides against all logic to venture out to Aimee, despite all the dangerous monsters that stand in his way. The fun-filled and action-packed adventure also stars Michael Rooker and Ariana Greenblatt.
It's the end of the world as we know it, and, after spending seven long years living in a subterranean colony since the devastating Monsterpocalypse, Joel feels that something is missing from his uneventful new life. Then, miraculously, Joel reconnects with his long-lost high-school sweetheart, Aimee, over the radio, and just like that, plucks up the courage to venture into the earth's perilous, creature-infested surface in the name of love. Now, only eighty-five miles stand in the way of lovesick Joel's happiness, and, even though he knows it sounds crazy, Joel has no other choice but to do the impossible. After all, who knows what tomorrow's adventures will bring? Is there anyone out there who wants to be lonely during humankind's end?—Nick Riganas
An asteroid (Agatha 616) heads for Earth, and the world military unleash a barrage of Chemical missiles which blow it up. But the missiles were made up of chemicals that rained down on the Earth. Due to the chemical fallout cold-blooded animals (ants, cockroaches, lizards, crocodiles etc) mutate into large monsters and kill off most of humanity (95% of the human population was killed within a year).Eventually, the military got its act together, but the real big monsters and the military take each other out. Most of the survivors moved underground to hide.
During the evacuation of Fairfield, Joel Dawson (Dylan O'Brien) is separated from his girlfriend Aimee (Jessica Henwick) as both their parents drive out of the city in different directions. Joel promises to find her, shortly before his parents (Andrew Buchanan & Tandi Wright) are killed (they got trapped in their car and got crushed by a monster).
Seven years later, Joel lives in one of many bunkers underground called "colonies", where all survivors have romantically paired up with each other such as Ray (Pacharo Mzembe) & Karen (Senie Priti), Ava (Amali Golden) & Tim (Te Kohe Tuhaka) while fighting monsters and seeking supplies. The colony had one cow, which is milked for fresh dairy.The colonies ran out of bullets and so they have fashioned lethal weapons with what they have.
As the colony ventures outside the bunker, Joel instead is left behind in the kitchen, as he freezes in dangerous situations. A giant ant breaches his colony, and a war party goes into the tunnels to combat it. The ant kills Connor and gets to the bunker, where it is confronted by Joel. But Joel freezes as he watches the giant ant and is saved by Anna (Tasneem Roc) who arrives just in time.Joel is an artist and makes really good drawings of the monsters he encounters with a color pencil set gifted to him by Aimee.
Joel sets off on a quest to reunite with Aimee He is in contact with her on the radio and knows the colony where she is staying and hiding. Joel had contacted over 90 colonies, before he found Aimee on the radio.Her colony is 85 miles away from his current location. Everyone tells Joel that an armed and trained hunting party would be lucky to last 50 miles on the surface. Joel takes hi radio, even though it does not have any power. The journey is expected to take 7 days.
Passing through the suburbs, Joel is attacked by a giant toad-monster but is saved by a stray dog named "Boy" (Hero and Dodge), who follows Joel on his journey, warning him against poisonous berries and other dangers.Joel falls into a nest of worm-monsters called "Sand-Gobblers", when two survivors, Clyde Dutton (Michael Rooker) and Minnow (Ariana Greenblatt), rescue him. Minnow was adopted by Clyde, when her dad was killed fighting a monster who had attacked Clyde's son.They are heading north to the mountains, where fewer monsters live due to the colder weather and higher elevation. They teach Joel some basic survival skills, like always survey from high ground, shooting crossbows with aim, and that not all monsters are hostile, demonstrating how "You can always tell in their eyes".They invite Joel to join them, but he insists he must find Aimee. As they part ways, Clyde gives Joel a grenade. Every time Joel encounters a new monster, he makes a drawing of it in his diary, along with noting down the best way to defeat it.
Continuing west, Boy becomes trapped by a giant centipede-monster. Joel freezes, but eventually saves Boy with his crossbow. Sheltering in an abandoned motel, they meet a robot named Mav1s. Before her battery dies, Mav1s powers his radio long enough to briefly contact Aimee. Other survivors have reached Aimee's colony, promising to lead them to safety. The next day Joel and Boy are attacked by a queen Sand-Gobbler. They hide, but Boy barks, giving away their position. Joel kills the queen with the grenade. He yells at Boy for putting them in danger, causing Boy to run away. After swimming across a pond, Joel is covered in poisonous leeches and hallucinates but is rescued before he collapses.
Joel wakes to finally see Aimee. She leads a beach colony of elderly survivors who depend on her. He is introduced to the survivors, Cap (Dan Ewing), and his crew Dana (Ellen Hollman) & Rocko (Tre Hale). As everyone celebrates their imminent departure, Aimee confesses she is glad to see Joel but has become a different person and is still mourning someone. Joel feels embarrassed and ashamed, realizing he never asked if Aimee wanted him to come back to her.
Joel decides to return to his colony, contacting them on the radio and learning that it has become unsafe and that they too must leave. Cap sends Joel some berries, which he recognizes as poisonous. Realizing Cap is not to be trusted, he rushes to warn Aimee but is knocked unconscious.
Joel, Aimee, and the rest of her colony awaken tied-up on the beach. Cap reveals that his group is there to steal supplies and that their yacht is towed by a crab-monster controlled with an electrified chain. Cap sets the crab to feed on the colonists, but Joel and Aimee escape and are able to fight for their lives, and Boy returns to help. Joel has the opportunity to kill the crab, but he realizes it is not hostile by looking into its eyes, and shoots the electrified chain, freeing it. The crab leaves Joel unharmed and instead kills Cap and his crew, sinks the yacht in the process.
Joel recommends Aimee and her colony head north. They share a romantic goodbye kiss, and Aimee promises she will find him. Joel treks all the way back to his colony, and they too decide to head to the mountains. On the radio, Joel inspires other colonies to take to the surface. As everyone heads north, Clyde and Minnow, already in the mountains, wonder if Joel will survive the next journey.
