In the late 1990s, a group of four heavily armed terrorists hijack an Air France plane on its way from Algiers to Paris. The hijackers force the plane to land at Marseille Provence Airport, where they hold the 227 passengers and crew hostage. The French government and its elite counter-terrorism unit, GIGN, urgently strategize to end the crisis. Among the captives in the besieged aircraft, tension and fear escalate as the hijackers' demands become increasingly severe. They threaten to blow up the plane if their expectations are not met, which leads to a race against time for the authorities.

Unfolding in real-time, the film closely follows Thierry, one of the GIGN operatives, as he prepares and gears up for the high-stakes mission. Concurrently, it sheds light on the personal lives and struggles of both the hostages and the hijackers, creating a complex, multi-layered portrayal of the incident. The tension is palpable as minutes tick by, leading to an intense climax at the airport. The film conveys the gravity of the situation, the emotional strains on all parties involved, and the extreme measures taken to prevent a cataclysmic disaster.