Young couple Carla (Maestro) and Martin (Leroux) are abducted by three men and spend a terrifying night in Caracas as they wait for Carla's father (Blades) to hand over the ransom.
In a night pregnant with a strange mix of tension and dizzy abandon, lovers Carla and Martin prowl clubs before drunkenly wandering back to his car. While he comes across as crass nouveau riche, she appears more liberal. Their conspicuous affluence, however, makes them ideal targets for kidnappers, and the trio of Trece, Budu and Niga gets a bead on them and promptly sweeps them up at gunpoint. The kidnappers then demand $20,000 to be delivered in two hours. Carla phones her rich father Sergio to procure the money, but chaos soon ensues. A botched ATM robbery is followed by a stopover at the palatial estate of a gay drug dealer.—Sujit R. Varma
The film follows the kidnapping of Carla (Maestro) and her boyfriend when they are suddenly kidnapped in Caracas, Venezuela. Venezuela is shown to be a country in the middle of a political upheaval, with widespread unemployment and social unrest. The youth indulge in drugs and crime is rampant as there are no jobs.
Dolor is an original gangster and acts as a spotter and hunter for the rich kids at night clubs and sells the information to kidnappers. Dolor calls Trece with a score.Carla (Mia Maestro) (who is a volunteer at a public clinic) and Martin (Jean Paul Leroux) (who comes from old money and is high maintenance) are a young upper-class couple fresh from a night of dancing and partying.They were making out in Martin's car, and Martin was discouraging Carla from taking in a sick girl into her house. They go to a drugstore to buy some medicines for Martin's hangover. It is 5:30 am in Caracas.This is when they cross paths with Trece (Carlos Julio Molina) (comes from a middle class background and is a romantic), Budu (Pedro Perez) (a painter, a sexual predator and a sentimental father. He needs the money to buy medicines for his sick daughter) and Niga (Carlos Madera) (Niga is an ex-con, a religious fanatic and a killer), three men who make their living by kidnapping unwitting young adults to extort quick money from their wealthy parents.
Carla and Martin become their next victims and are sent on a terrifying overnight journey through Caracas. Martin is the richer family by far, but it is Carla who ends up giving her father's phone number to the kidnappers. The kidnappers call Sergio, Carla's father and demand $40,000.The kidnappers also call Martin's father Mendez Itriago and demand $30,000 for him.The gang stops at an ATM vestibule for Martin and Carla to withdraw money using their debit cards. But a criminal tries to rob Martin at gun point, prompting Niga to kill him and for the gang to continue their journey into the countryside. The gang only get $700 from the ATM for their expenses.They reach the apartment of Marcelo (Ermahn Ospina). The gang wants to buy cocaine from Marcelo. Marcelo wants payment for the cocaine plus half an hour with Martin. Carla refuses to abandon Martin, but Budu forces her out on gun point.When the gang is gone, turns out Marcelo is Martin's lover and the ploy was a ruse to buy time for Martin. But the gang finds that their car (or Martin's car) has been stolen and they return to Marcelo's earlier than expected. They find Marcelo and Martin having sex and Martin enjoying it, which devastates Carla.The gang borrows Marcelo's car (a Land Cruiser) and continues onward with Martin in the trunk of the SUV.
They wait for Carla's father Sergio (Ruben Blades) to hand over $30,000 - a small amount for a rich Caraqueño, but the equivalent of more than 8 years of the Venezuelan minimum wage.
They are emotionally and physically hurt, but soon form a relationship with their captors to try to escape. However, none of their plans pan out. They continue in the Land Cruiser, listening and understanding, even if slightly, their captor's point of view.On the way, the SUV is stopped at a police checkpoint and the officer suspects something is wrong. Carla cooperates with the gang and doesn't raise any alarms. Yet, the officer finds that the gang is carrying a kilo of drugs, and takes half as bribe for letting them go.
Next, the gang approaches a jewelry store and ask Martin to buy 5 Rolex with his credit card and return to the car, else they will sexually assault Carla.Martin flees the kidnappers in a crowded square, telling Niga to kill his girlfriend, abandoning her. Niga returns to the car and narrates the incident, breaking Carla's heart as she thought Martin was going to marry her.The gang calls Sergio and reiterate their demand for $30,000.
However, he is soon apprehended by Dolor (who picks up Martin while driving a taxi) and returned to them and murdered in the trunk of Dolor's taxi.Carla connects with Trece and tells him that she is a social worker and that her father worked hard for the money he earned. Trece says that people hate show-offs and that Carla was rolling around in an expensive car that could feed many families.Budu wants to sexually assault Carla, but Trece stops him.
After her father pays their ransom (Sergio was only able to pay $25,000), the kidnappers heatedly argue over her fate, between murder, sexual assault, and release. Trece pays his share to the others to release her unharmed, and Carla is soon released, only to be found by another set of kidnappers.However, Trece returns to the scene and shoots them, freeing her again at that time.
In the final scene she can be seen with much more modest attire and an inelegant car, continuing her work with sickly, impoverished children.
