The film stars Kathy Bates, Colin Firth, Ciarán Hinds, Natasha Richardson, Jay O. Sanders, Josef Sommer and Harry Dean Stanton.
After several real-life news clips highlight the situation in Beirut, including footage of bombings and attacks in the Lebanese capital along with the hijacking of TWA flight 847, the film opens with reporter John McCarthy finishing a story on Brian Keenan, an Irish lecturer who was kidnapped in Beirut days earlier.
The two develop a friendship as they, like the other hostages, were forced to endure unbearable conditions, including beatings at the hands of their captors, poor food, lack of sunlight, and dirty, bug-infested cells.
Some time later, as Syria invades Beirut, McCarthy and Keenan are mummy-wrapped in duct tape and moved in the underside of a pick up truck to another location where American hostages Terry Anderson, Thomas Sutherland and Frank Reed are being held.
She, Morrell and the Keenan sisters seek opportunities to publicize the plight of the hostages in local news to bring more attention to the dire situation.