In the desolate landscape of West Texas, Llewelyn Moss, a Vietnam War veteran and welder by trade, stumbles upon a grim aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong while out hunting antelope. He finds a pickup truck surrounded by dead bodies, a load of heroin, and a briefcase containing two million dollars in cash. Moss makes a fateful decision to take the money, triggering a chain of violent events as he becomes the target of various individuals seeking the lost fortune. Among those on his trail is Anton Chigurh, a relentless and psychopathic hitman who utilizes a captive bolt pistol to eliminate anyone connected to the money.

Meanwhile, Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, a World War II veteran nearing retirement, is tasked with investigating the drug deal massacre and the subsequent spiraling violence that seems to follow the stolen money. As the body count rises, Sheriff Bell contemplates the changing times and the new breed of criminal, which he finds increasingly incomprehensible and evil compared to the old days of law enforcement. In parallel to the pursuit of Moss by his pursuers, Bell's journey not only puts him on the trail of the chaos but also leads him to reflect on his own life, the history of violence in the region, and his feelings of disillusionment with the world that appears to be leaving men like him behind.