Enredo

Political intrigue and deception unfold inside the United Nations, where a U.S. Secret Service agent is assigned to investigate an interpreter who overhears an assassination plot.

Escalating events begin when U.N. interpreter Silvia Broome alleges that she has overheard a death threat against an African head of state, spoken in a rare dialect few people other than Silvia can understand. With the words "The Teacher will never leave this room alive," in an instant, Silvia's life is turned upside down as she becomes a hunted target of the killers. Placed under the protection of federal agent Tobin Keller, Silvia's world only grows more nightmarish. As Keller digs deeper into his eyewitnesses' past and her secretive world of global connections, the more suspicious he becomes that she herself might be involved in the conspiracy. With every step of the way, he finds more reasons to mistrust her. Is Sylvia a victim? A suspect? Or something else entirely? And can Tobin, coping with his own personal heartache, keep her safe? Though they must depend on one another, Silvia and Tobin couldn't be more different. Silvia's strengths are words, diplomacy and the subtleties of meaning, while Tobin is all about instinct, action and reading into the most primal human behaviors. Now, as the danger of a major assassination on U.S. soil grows and Silvia's life hangs in the balance, Silvia and Tobin play out a gripping dance of evasion and revelation that keeps them both guessing as they race to stop a terrifying international crisis before it's too late.—Sujit R. Varma

In Southern African country of Matobo, rebel leader Ajene Xola drives two men, Simon Broome (Hugo Speer) and Philippe (Yvan Attal), to an abandoned stadium. They discuss how President Edmond Zuwanie's (Earl Cameron) regime has ruthlessly exterminated most of the population and intimidated the survivors into silence. Upon their arrival at the stadium, they find three schoolboys, who point Xola and Simon in the direction of corpses left by Zuwanie's security apparatus, while Philippe stays in the car. When Xola and Simon return to the playing field, they are executed by the boys who are accomplices of Zuwanie's secret police. Philippe clambers out of the car and hides, taking pictures of a car arriving carrying Zuwanie's lackeys, and then escapes.

Simon's sister, Silvia (Nicole Kidman), works at the United Nations Interpretation Service in New York. A white African born in the United States to a British mother and white Matoban father, she was raised in Matobo and studied in France. Her diverse background leads to UN Security Chief Lee Wu (Clyde Kusatsu) wryly describing her as "being the UN". The UN is considering indicting Zuwanie, to stand trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past 20 years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing. Zuwanie is soon to visit the UN and put forward his own case to the UN General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment and to lay out his proposal for Democratic reforms in the country. Zuwaine officially considers rebels like Xola & Kuman-Kuman to be terrorists.

Interpreters at the UN HQ have a special enclosure overlooking the general assembly, from where they can hear everything that is being said in the General Assembly and have mikes through which they can translate the proceedings and relay it to their delegate on the floor on the assembly.

A random security scare (when the metal detector machine at the entrance of the building malfunctions raising a suspicion that weapons and other objectionable items could have got through security without detection) forces the evacuation of the UN headquarters. When Silvia returns at night to reclaim some personal belongings, she overhears two men discussing an assassination plot in Ku (the Matoban language). Silvia runs from the building when the men become aware of her presence. That night Silvia emails Simon saying that she is worried and asking him to call her. Silvia is not yet aware that Simon is dead.

The next day, Silvia recognizes words in a meeting, where she is interpreting, from phrases she overheard the night before, and reports the incident to UN security. Silvia speculates that the plot's target appears to be Zuwanie.

The US Secret Service assigns Dignitary Protection Division (DPD) agents Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) to investigate, as well as protect Zuwanie when he arrives. Keller initially suspects that Silvia is making up the story and perhaps she is making up the story of a possible assassination attempt to insulate herself when the real attempt takes place, suspecting her to be a part of it.

Keller is told by his superior that the US does not want Zuwanie dead on US soil and offers Keller all resources from CIA and FBI to protect Zuwanie till he makes his speech and flies out of the US. CIA informs Keller that Xola and Kuman-Kuman both want Zuwanie gone, along with the relatives of thousands of victims who died at Zuwanie's hands. Keller subjects Silvia to a polygraph, which shows that she is under stress, but not necessarily lying.

Zuwanie's personal head of security, former Dutch mercenary Nils Lud (Jesper Christensen), arrives in New York. Nils learns Sylvia's parents and sister were killed by landmines laid by Zuwanie's men in the past, and that she has dated Xola. Nils also presents proof that Silvia attended Xola's public rallies in the recent past. Keller presents the proof to Silvia, who shows Keller that the back of the photo had the names of all the people who attended the rally. She says that the photo is a death list. Silvia says that the only way to end grief of death, is to save a life.

Keller's estranged wife was killed in a car accident just weeks earlier. Although Keller is suspicious of Silvia's backstory, the two grow close, in part because of their shared grief, and Keller ends up protecting her from attacks.

Philippe calls Silvia to meet and informs her of Xola's death but lies and says he doesn't know what happened to Simon. Silvia attempts to obtain information by way of Kuman-Kuman (George Harris), an exiled Matoban minister living in New York, only to almost be killed in a bus bombing perpetrated by Lud's right-hand man, Jean Gamba; Kuman-Kuman, along with a DPD agent, are among the dead. The media report that Xola - who no one knows Zuwanie has already had assassinated - is behind the bombing.

Philippe is found dead in his hotel room, and Silvia finds out that Simon was killed along with Xola. She narrowly avoids an assassination attempt by Gamba (whom Keller kills) and leaves a voicemail on Keller's phone saying she's going back home. Keller takes this to mean she's returning to Matobo and dispatches an agent to intercept her at JFK Airport.

The purported assassin is discovered and shot to death while Zuwanie is in the middle of his address to the General Assembly, and security personnel rush Zuwanie to a safe room for his protection. Silvia, anticipating this, has been hiding in the safe room, and confronts Zuwanie and intends to kill him herself. Keller determines that the assassination plot is a false flag operation created by Zuwanie to gain credibility that his rivals are terrorists and to deter supporters of his removal. Keller realizes that Silvia returning home means going to the UN, and rushes to the safe room, just in time to prevent her from murdering Zuwanie.

Zuwanie is indicted, and Silvia reconciles with Keller before leaving for Matobo.