Barents Sea, August 12th, 2000. During a Russian naval exercise, and after suffering a serious accident, the K-141 Kursk submarine sinks with 118 crew members on board. While the few sailors who are still alive barely manage to survive, their families push for accurate information and a British officer struggles to obtain from the Russian government a permit to attempt a rescue before it is late. But general incompetence are against all their efforts.
Jillian Shanahan, a deaf woman, becomes the target of a ruthless and corrupt cop. The cop is looking for a stolen coin, which he plans to keep for himself. A journalist briefly acquires the coin and hides it in Jillian's apartment, then his car explodes, now the cop is after her.