In 2014, humanity has destroyed the planet’s atmosphere and caused global warming. To fix this, scientists make an artificial cooling substance, which is dispersed into the air. It does reduce the heat, however it also causes a new ice age to hit the planet. Fortunately, a genius scientist named Wilford has built a train powered by a perpetual engine that will continuously travel around the globe. The few remaining humans on the planet now live in the train, and those who dare go out immediately die from freezing.
Unfortunately classism also exists in this small society and the train cars are organized accordingly: upper classes at the front, economy classes at the back, and the poor people in the tail section. Seventeen years later, the guards bring food for the poor people, consisting of some nasty protein blocks.
Everyone must sit to receive it, but Curtis doesn’t sit until a guard threatens to shoot him. Curtis explains to his friend Edgar that he counted the doors because he’s planning to sneak through the train. The guard then asks if there are any experienced violinists in the group, and an old couple volunteers because they used to
be in in the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The guard tries to just take Gerald because they only need one musician, but Gerald refuses to go without his wife.
This causes the guard to beat up the woman and break her hand before dragging Gerald away. Afterward Curtis visits Tanya and her son Timmy to ask the boy to trade protein blocks. Curtis cuts up his new block and finds a small capsule with a message in it, which he takes to Gilliam, an old one-arm man who sits next to a Wilford logo on the wall. The message says “Nam”, the name of a security expert from the prison section.
Curtis wants to find him so he can help them with the revolution, so Gilliam assists Curtis in mapping out their options. Later while everyone is sleeping, a bunch of guards arrive with Wilford’s assistant Claude, who starts measuring all of the children with a tape. Suddenly Claude approaches Tanya and moves her skirt to find Timmy hiding there, so Timmy tries to run as his mom screams.
However the guards capture Timmy and beat Tanya up to shut her up. After some more measuring, Claude takes Timmy and Andrew's son Andy. A devastated Andrew yells and throws a shoe at Claude, so the guards immediately capture him. Moments later, Young Franco and Old Franco put a clock around Andrew’s neck before putting his arm through a hole in the wall, causing him to scream in pain at the feeling of subzero temperature. Then Minister Mason arrives and makes a long speech to scold the passengers for their misbehavior.
She puts the thrown shoe on top of Andrew’s head, saying things on the train must subscribe to a particular order. Next Mason calls Wilford on a phone to make him offer a speech too, but he doesn’t answer. The Francos take out Andrew’s arm, which is completely frozen, and smash it with a giant hammer to finish the punishment. For the following few days, the poor people begin working hard on putting things together to make a tool that will help with the
revolution.
Curtis also obtains some kronole, which are small blocks of industrial waste used by addicts to get a kick, but they’re also highly flammable. He can’t stop thinking about the fact Mason called the guard’s weapons “useless guns”, theorizing that they ran out of bullets during the last revolt. While everyone works, the artist of the group makes drawings of all the important moments, and he gifts Andrew and Tanya portraits of their kids. One day, the alarm suddenly goes off and everyone scrambles to get in line for the guards. Their device is ready, so to create a distraction, they start yelling in protest of the protein blocks.
/*****/*
A guard grabs an old man and threatens to shoot him, so Curtis runs forward and puts the gun on his own head instead. When the guard pulls the trigger nothing happens, so Edgar yells that the guns have no bullets and chaos breaks out. The device turns out to be a giant train of pipes on wheels, which the group starts pushing through the next compartments with Curtis riding on top of it. A huge fight breaks out between the guards and the rebels, but without the guns, the rebels easily overpower them.
Suddenly a huge guard tries to block their way, however Grey jumps on top of him and quickly kills him, stealing his keys in the process. Afterward the rebels easily reach the prison car, where cells are actually compartments on the walls.
Using the keys they manage to release the security expert Nam, who looks rather dazed because he’s an addict. After grabbing a translating device from the wall, Curtis explains he needs help getting through the doors in the following cars, and he can pay Nam with kronole. As he thinks about it, Nam smokes a cigarette, which shocks everyone because cigarettes haven’t been available for over ten years.
The little Chan takes the chance to steal Nam’s matches. After lots of thinking, Nam throws the cigarette and everyone starts fighting over it, but Nam also joins the fight until Curtis pulls him out of it. Nam reveals he took the keys and opens another compartment containing his daughter Yona, who is also an addict.
Nam agrees to help if both of them get kronole for each door. Cutis accepts the deal, so Nam starts working on the door's wires. After Yona announces there’s no one on the other side, Nam opens the door and the group confirms it’s empty. Someone opens the windows and everyone is shocked to see the sunlight again after almost two decades; the world outside is covered in snow and every city is completely frozen. Then Nam begins working on the next door and Yona says “he’s running” right
before it opens.
The group is surprised to see Paul, a previous member of their group who is now jumping around like a maniac. He didn’t used to be like that, so they look around and notice these are the machines that make the protein blocks.
Paul was brought here to make the blocks alone, which has driven him crazy. Curtis looks inside a machine, only to be horrified to discover that the ingredients for making the protein blocks are cockroaches. Suddenly he finds another capsule on the floor and asks Paul about it, but he doesn't know who sends them, he just puts them in the food.
Gilliam opens it and finds the word "water", so Paul tells them the water supply is a few cars up. If they control the water, they can control the negotiation. While Nam works on opening the next door, Curtis chats with Yona and learns that she was born on the train. Curtis comes from the outside but doesn’t remember anything before the train.
Curtis also wonders if Yona's clairvoyant, causing her to look at the door and yell “don’t open it”. Unfortunately it’s too late: the door opens and reveals a room full of masked men armed with axes. As a threat, they hold up a fish and gut it. The rebels aren’t intimidated and run forward, causing a chaotic fight to start.
Both sides quickly begin losing people as they kill each other without mercy, splattering blood all over the car.
Edgar and Curtis try to advance through the crow as they kill lots of masked men, but suddenly Curtis slips on the fish. A man tries to kill him when he’s down, but Edgar jumps to kill him first just in time. At the front of the car there are even more masked men and a few guards, who announce they’re about to cross a bridge. Then the men begin counting down and when the train reaches the bridge, they yell “Happy New Year!”.
/*****
Unfortunately since last year, several banks of ice have formed on the bridge. The train shakes like crazy as it goes through them, causing everyone to fall to the ground except for Yona and Nam, who look out the window to check on the cliffs below. Eventually a guard announces that they’ve crossed the bridge and everyone stands up to fight again, only to be interrupted when Mason and the Francos enter the car.
She scolds the rebels for being ungrateful for the shelter and food that Wilford has been giving him all these years and informs them that 74% of them will be killed. A furious Curtis throws an axe at her face, but it gets blocked.
Suddenly Mason holds up binoculars and her men put on special masks, so Yona explains to Curtis that there's a long tunnel coming up. The car goes dark as the train enters the tunnel, but the guards can still see thanks to their special masks. The rebels are quickly overpowered and they start dying one by one while Mason enjoys the massacre as if it were a play.
Rebels continue to die, but Curtis remembers something and he yells for Chan to start for fire. Chan uses the matches he stole to light up a torch, and soon he and Andrew are guiding a group of rebels with lots of torches that they bring into the dark car. With the help of the fire, the rebels get the upper hand again, and Grey grabs an officer to threaten to kill him if the enemy doesn’t surrender.
Mason doesn’t care about some low-level employee, so Grey kills him and continues to fight, throwing a knife to stab Mason in the leg. Curtis sees an opportunity and runs towards Mason, only to realize that Young Franco has caught Edgar. For a second Curtis doesn’t know what to do, but in the end he chooses the needs of the many and runs to capture Mason while Franco kills Edgar.
As soon as Curtis grabs Mason, she orders everyone to stop fighting. Young Franco tries to kill Curtis, but Yona comes out of hiding and impales him with a metal rod. After the group captures Old Franco, they wash the blood off in the next car, which has running water. Tanya and Andrew hurt Mason to make her talk, but Mason only knows that the children are taken to Wilford.
Now it’s Curtis’ turn to threaten her, saying he can turn off the water supply. However Mason laughs as she explains that the water comes from the front of the train, it’s the snow and ice the train breaks as it moves. Curtis is ready to kill her, but Mason manages to convince him to take her with them because she can guarantee safe passage.
That night the group decides to rest, but Curtis and Gilliam stay up discussing the next move. Gilliam doesn’t like how many people have died already, so Curtis volunteers to keep going alone while Gilliam watches over the group and the prisoners. After looking at Curtis’ arm scar, Gilliam accepts.
The next morning, Curtis leaves with Andrew, Tanya, Nam, Grey, and Yona, always keeping a handcuffed Mason at the front. The first car they enter is a greenhouse,
where fruits and vegetables are grown for the upper class. Nam gives Yona some dirt because she never touched it before, and she’s surprised by the worms.
The next car is a giant aquarium, and Mason offers the group to have sushi. In this train, fish are only eaten twice a year because they must maintain the balance of the ecological system. Mason tries to eat some sushi too, but Curtis stops her and makes her eat a protein block instead, enjoying her face because she knows what’s in it.
/*****
After passing through the butcher car, they find a classroom full of screaming children. Tanya and Andrew immediately ask for their kids using the drawings, but a boy only knows that they were taken further in the train. The teacher turns on a video full of propaganda that teaches the kids that Wilford is their merciful savior. The children absolutely love it and even cheer for their leader.
Next, the teacher plays an instrument and sings a song that teaches the children they’ll freeze and die if the train ever stops. At that moment, they pass by a spot
in the landscape where fifteen years ago, seven people once tried to escape, and now their bodies are frozen statues in the snow. Then a man comes in with a cart filled with New Year's warm eggs.
Both the children and the rebels grab eggs to eat while Gerald also shows up to play the violin for them. After Tanya notices how much Gerald has changed since he got this job, Curtis finds a capsule in the egg with a message that says "blood". When the cart man reaches another car, both he and the teacher pull guns out of the piles of eggs to begin shooting.
Everyone ducks for cover, but sadly the teacher kills Andrew before Grey ends her with a knife. Mason tries to shoot Curtis, but he kicks the gun out of her hand right as a live video appears on the classroom’s TV. The cart man has killed all the rebels, and now old Franco can shoot Gilliam. A grieving Curtis gets his revenge by killing Mason. The group keeps going and in the following few cars, they find the fancy people using all kinds of services like doctors, tailors, and a beauty salon.
While they cross the dining room, Franco gets moving too and notices the train is turning in a way that his car and the one with the rebels are adjacent. Franco
immediately opens fire and Curtis shoots back, missing all the shots until they both run out of bullets. While they reload, Nam sees a snowflake getting in through the bullet holes, which he considers a clue.
Then Franco and Curtis shoot once more, but since this isn’t going anywhere, they decide to move on. The group crosses a spa before reaching a sauna, where they hide in the stalls before Franco and two guards catch up to them. Franco opens a stall and kills a high-class passenger, then he kills the guard that calls him out for it. At that moment Grey jumps out to kill the other guard and stab Franco in the shoulder, so a fight ensues. As the two men struggle, Curtis comes out to shoot Franco, but he can’t aim without hurting Grey.
When Franco knocks Grey out, Curtis finally shoots, but Franco shoots back and hurts Curtis’ arm. Tanya tries to attack Franco too, but he just shoots her down. Next Curtis starts fighting Franco hand-to-hand and after lots of struggle, Franco knocks Curtis out. Then Franco tries to stab Curtis, only to be stopped by Grey.
This time Franco overpowers him quickly and stabs him in the chest, killing him. When Franco opens another stall, he finds Nam hiding behind a woman, triggering yet another fight. As Nam pushes Franco down and begins strangling him, Yona comes out and grabs the knife to kill him. However Nam doesn’t want her to kill and makes him drop the knife, which is grabbed by an awakening Curtis to stab Franco in the side.
*******
Afterward Curtis rushes to check on Tanya, who asks to see Timmy’s drawing one last time before dying. The group keeps moving and they cross a car hosting a loud party full of alcohol and decadence, followed by a car with pits filled with addicts. Nam and Yona use this chance to steal some furs and alcohol.
Next they go through a computer car, and after crossing a bridge, they finally make it to Wilford’s vault door. While Yona passes out because she drank too much, Curtis tells Nam to open the door. Nam asks for more kronole, causing Curtis to loses his mind and begin beating on the door. Nam fights him to calm him down then gives him the last cigarette on Earth, which Curtis enjoys while sharing his story.
During the first days on the train, the poor people had to eat the weak and babies tasted the best. Curtis killed a mother and almost killed baby Edgar too, but Gilliam came through and offered his arm instead. Soon everyone started to copy him, but Curtis has a scar on his arm because he tried and couldn’t do it. A few days after that, the guards started to come with the protein blocks. In return, Nam confesses that he’s been stocking up on kronole because it’s flammable, so he’s made a bomb to blow up the door to the outside.
For the last decade on every New Year, Nam looked outside and saw signs that the ice is thawing, so he thinks they could escape and survive. Suddenly the door opens and Claude comes out to shoot Nam and take his kronole bomb before telling Curtis that Wilford has invited him to dinner.
Curtis comes inside and finally meets Wilford, who explains Curtis is the first person to have walked the total length of this train because he's never been to the back. Then Wilford talks about the importance of ecological balance, but since natural selection would’ve taken too long, years ago he made a plan. It turns out he
and Gilliam have been working together all along and they designed fake revolutions that brought the population down. Curtis should’ve lost a few cars back but he got lucky, so to fix the balance, Wilford calls the egg guy and orders him to kill all the remaining poor people in the back but to spare eighteen to celebrate their 18th year.
The sound of screams and gunshots comes through the phone, and Curtis realizes the logo Gilliam sat next to was his own private phone. Meanwhile Franco wakes up in the sauna and simply pulls out the knife. Outside Wilford's car, Yona and Nam also wake up, only to notice one of the partygoers coming to attack. Nam quickly stops him and pushes him into the train’s mechanism to kill him, however there are more furious partygoers coming.
To hold them back, Nam blocks the bridge while telling Yona to open the door. Back to Wilford, he brings Curtis into the engine so he can have a moment alone, which he hasn’t experienced since he got on the train. Overwhelmed, Curtis drops to his knees and cries while Wilford brings him the last capsule with a message that says “train".
Wilford wants Curtis to take his place as leader, saying it's what Gilliam wanted too. Outside, Franco starts making his way through the partygoer crowd at the same time Yona finally opens the door. Claude comes out to investigate, but Yona kills her and takes her gun, firing it at Franco until she runs out of bullets.
Franco is still alive, so Nam tells Yona to get the kronole back from Claude and the matches from Curtis. Yona runs inside and holds her hand out, but Curtis is under Wilford’s manipulation and pushes her away. Desperate, she grabs a fork and lifts a floor tile to reveal Timmy working on powering the engine. Wilford explains that they’ve run out of parts through the years, so nowadays he uses kids as a replacement.
A furious Curtis jumps on Wilford to beat him up, then he painfully reaches into the tile to stop the engine cogs and gives Yona the matches. While Yona runs out, Andy comes out of a compartment and goes to the engine to activate it again. In just a second, Nam kills Franco, Yona lights up the kronole, and Curtis pushes through the pain of breaking his arm to stop the engine again so that Timmy can climb out.
Then the group runs to hug as the kronole explodes, blowing up the door but also causing a giant avalanche that pours down on the train. The cars begin to fall one by one and the train goes off the tracks until the front jams
into the snow and finally stops.
Moments later, Timmy and Yona wake up in the car surrounded by fire and the bodies of anybody else. Wearing the stolen furs, they go outside and watch a polar bear as they realize they won’t die from freezing.
