The film is set in a small former mining town where poverty is rife and children are disappearing on a regular basis.

Jessica Biel plays a widowed nurse whose child is abducted, leading her on a desperate chase to recover him.

While in pursuit of what the viewer believes is "The Tall Man", it is gradually revealed that David is not her son at all, but rather one of the kidnapped children.

Julia, with the help of Jenny, pursues the mother, reacquires David, and hands him off to "The Tall Man" in the tunnels which run under the town, left over from the defunct mine.

Disgusted, Jenny walks off into a nearby field, where she finds the Tall Man waiting for her—Julia's husband, who is not dead after all.

The Tall Man refuses payment, saying that the organization faces massive risks to rescue each child, with Julia martyring herself to save the organisation, which "rescues" young children from bad homes and places them with good ones, in an attempt to break the cycle of poverty and abuse which passes from one generation to the next.

Star Jessica Biel said that she enjoyed Pascal Laugier's previous film, Martyrs, and loved the script for The Tall Man, which impressed her with its unpredictable plot twists.

[11] Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Biel's performance was believable and the film atmospheric, but the story becomes ridiculous and nonsensical.

[12] Jeanette Catsoulis positively compared it to Stephen King's early work, and designated it as a New York Times Critics' Pick.

[13] Chris Packham of The Village Voice called the film implausible and deceptive in its narrative twists.

[15] Scott Weinberg of Fearnet wrote that the film's increasingly unpredictable plot twists and acting by Biel cause it to defy expectations and may encourage discussion among viewers.

[16] Elizabeth Kerr of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that, like Martyrs, the film had arresting imagery but a leaden narrative.