Dr. Michael Morbius, a brilliant but ailing biochemist, is desperate to find a cure for his rare blood disease, which has plagued him and his surrogate brother, Lucien, since childhood. His affliction drives him to innovate a radical treatment involving vampire bat DNA and electroshock therapy. Despite the objections of his colleague and friend, Dr. Martine Bancroft, Morbius conducts an unauthorized experiment on himself in international waters, hoping the genetic editing will eradicate his disease and grant him a healthier life.

The treatment yields miraculous results, initially curing Morbius's condition and granting him heightened strength, speed, and echolocation abilities. However, these gifts come with an insidious price: an unyielding thirst for human blood. As the darker side of his cure manifests, Morbius struggles with this new hunger, finding himself caught in a moral dilemma between sustaining his own life and the predatory nature of his vampiric tendencies. His transformation attracts the attention of the authorities and rivals, leading him down a path that blurs the line between heroism and monstrosity.