CIA agent Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) fails to carry out a mission in a country in the far East and is immediately arrested by the authorities and will be executed within 24 hours. In the United States at this time, Tom's partner, CIA Agent Nathan D. Muir (Robert Redford) is lobbying CIA executives to rescue Tom. Because of international disputes, CIA executives prefer to sacrifice Tom for peace, while Nathan believes that the life of his partner is more important. Nathan quarreled with the top brass, and Tom, who was in prison, recalled that the characters he had executed with Nathan reappeared before his eyes like a walking lantern. A pair of intimate partners, a mental journey of Agent CIA. The image of Tom Bishop, an ordinary CIA agent, is becoming clearer and clearer. Can he be saved?