A young police officer must survive his first day's duty in a small country town.
When a young police officer, Constable Shane Cooper (Kwanten), relocates to the small high-country town of 'Red Hill' with his pregnant wife (van der Bloom), he does so in the hope of starting a new family. But when news of a prison break in the city sends the local law enforcement officers into a panic, Shane's first day on duty quickly goes from bad to worse.
Shane Cooper (Ryan Kwanten), a young police officer, relocates to the small town of Red Hill with his pregnant wife (Claire van der Boom) to start a family. On his first day on the job, he is instantly shown hostility from Old Bill (Steve Bisley), the head of the police force, for being unable to find his gun and getting shot on duty when he couldn't bring himself to fire his weapon on an armed boy.
During Shane's first assignment, the police learn that Jimmy Conway (Tom E. Lewis, a convicted murderer who was arrested by Old Bill for killing his wife, has escaped from prison. Knowing that Jimmy will return to town to seek revenge, Old Bill orders his officers and a group of civilians to arm themselves and shoot Jimmy on sight.
Old Bill's men prove to be no match for Jimmy, who effortlessly kills the officers and armed civilians he comes across. When the convict encounters Shane, however, he lets him live. When Shane finds Old Bill and his surviving officers, he confronts Bill over the fact that Jimmy spared his life and learns that Bill has refused to call for back-up from a nearby-town. Shane draws his gun at Bill, but again finds himself unable to fire it and is subsequently knocked out and handcuffed to a table.
Shane escapes and uses an emergency radio to contact the nearby police. He then learns from a farmer than Jimmy Conway is in fact innocent of the murder of his wife. The true murderer is Old Bill and his men, who set fire to Jimmy's house after killing his wife. The farmer informs Shane that he has a written document of what really happened, before committing suicide. Now knowing the real reason why Jimmy returned to Red Hill, Shane returns home to get his gun, which his wife found while he was on duty.
Near the outskirts of town, Old Bill sets stacks of hay on fire to attract Jimmy's attention. Jimmy arrives and kills Bill's last remaining officers, but is stopped from finishing Bill off when two of Bill's friends arrive and hold him at gunpoint. Shane also arrives and saves Jimmy by shooting Bill's friends after informing Bill that he knows the truth.
The police back-up arrives and surrounds Jimmy as he prepares to get his revenge on Old Bill. Despite Shane's efforts to get him to drop his gun, Jimmy kills Old Bill and is promptly shot by the police. Before dying, the seemingly mute Jimmy informs Shane that his wife was also pregnant.
