Plot

A grief counselor working with a group of plane-crash survivors finds herself at the root of a mystery when her clients begin to disappear.

After a plane crash, a young therapist, Claire, is assigned by her mentor to counsel the flight's five survivors. When they share their recollections of the incident -- which some say include an explosion that the airline claims never happened -- Claire is intrigued by Eric, the most secretive of the passengers. Just as Claire's professional relationship with Eric -- despite her better judgment -- blossoms into a romance, the survivors begin to disappear mysteriously, one by one. Claire suspects that Eric may hold all the answers and becomes determined to uncover the truth, no matter the consequences.—Anonymous

Dr. Claire Summers, a therapist, has lived her life within a small comfort zone without taking any risks. It is because of that life that her mentor Perry, to get her out of that comfort zone, assigns her to act as the group therapist for a handful of airplane crash survivors, that handful out of just over one hundred passengers who did not survive the crash. Perry warns her especially about one survivor, Eric Clark, who, instead of grief, feels ecstatic about life. Indeed, Eric does not want to attend group sessions along with the others, but he does encourage Claire to come see him anytime as a friend in his personal interest in her. On the caveat that he no longer hit on her, Claire decides to do so in her effort to help him. As such, she has to tread that fine line of acting but not acting as his therapist while he still has that attraction to her. Her ulterior motive in seeing Eric is that he, without coming right out and saying so or why, seems to know small details of her personal life. In the group sessions, Claire finds that there are conflicting details from some of the surviving passengers against the official statement of the airline, which is that it was pilot error that caused the crash, the pilot who is among the deceased and thus cannot defend himself. Claire wants to discover the truth behind the crash if only to help the survivors heal properly. In trying to discover the truth, Claire begins to butt heads with Mr. Arkin, the airline representative who she does not trust, especially as he seems to be following her. Also following her and the other survivors is an unknown man. As such, Claire also begins to believe the conspiracy theory of one of the survivors that the airline is trying to get to them to shut them up, permanently if need be, that unknown man suspected to work for Arkin. That theory is strengthened in Claire's mind as one by one, those surviving passengers stop attending the group therapy sessions, she not knowing where they are. Through it all, a kindly neighbor seems to be able to provide Claire with extra comfort during this time, like Eric she who seems to know what she needs without her asking.—Huggo

By some miracle, five extremely lucky passengers of a commercial airliner manage to survive a devastating emergency landing. Still unable to come to terms with their horrible experience, the fortunate commuters are entrusted in the capable hands of the dedicated trauma therapist, Claire, whose sessions attempt to shed light on their conflicting memories. Right from the start, Eric, one of Claire's seemingly less-traumatised patients, clearly stands out. Is it because of his amazing ability to overcome this disaster, or is it because Eric may be a part of a dark and well-planned conspiracy?—Nick Riganas

Psychotherapist Claire Summers (Anne Hathaway) counsels five survivors of a recent plane crash: passengers Dean (Ryan Robbins), Norman (Don Thompson), Shannon (Clea DuVall), Eric (Patrick Wilson), and flight attendant Janice (Chelah Horsdal). Eric, however, is unusually euphoric after the tragedy, and he asks that Claire meet with him individually rather than in group sessions with the others. She later talks with Mr. Arkin (David Morse), an airline official, about the survivors' differing recollections of the crash; Dean is sure there was an explosion before the crash, but the others disagree. Arkin claims pilot error was responsible. Eric expresses his attraction to Claire, but she is suspicious when he seems to know personal information about her, such as her fraught relationship with her sister or how she takes her coffee.

When Dean misses a session and a stranger seems to be stalking the survivors, Norman concludes the airline is targeting the surviving passengers to cover up the airline's history of negligent mechanical failures (he shows Claire that a mysterious man has been following him and Claire's sessions). While Norman originally remembered nothing odd happening before the crash, he tells Claire that he now remembers an engine exploding. Later, Eric displays strange behavior in response to a dog barking outside (he just stares at the dog who starts whimpering), and Claire is conflicted between her role as counselor and her growing personal feelings for him. She asks him to stop coming on to her, but Toni (Dianne Wiest), her kindly neighbor, urges her to take a chance with him.

At the following session, Norman is absent, leaving only Janice and Shannon. Arkin warns Claire against feeding the airline cover-up theory to the remaining survivors, but she angrily tells him to stay away and later tells her supervisor Perry (Andre Braugher) that she is worried about her missing patients. Claire then visits Eric, rides on his motorcycle, sails on his boat, swims with him, and finally sleeps with him. She also leaves unanswered voice mail messages for her estranged sister, Emma, indicating that she wants to reconcile. She takes flowers to Emma's house, but no one is home. Arkin confronts her as she departs, telling her that he knows she is sleeping with one of her patients. Claire then encounters Norman's stalker, who turns out to be another crash survivor who remembers an explosion. She takes him to see Arkin at the airport and angrily blames the airline for the crash and a cover-up. As Arkin denies the accusations, the survivor suddenly disappears, leaving Claire shaken and bewildered.

Eric returns to the crash site and experiences frightening memories of an exploding engine. Meanwhile, Shannon is the only one at the next session; just before Claire arrives, Shannon has a vision of her dead parents (Father (Brad Turner) & Mother (aire Smithies)) outside. Eric also arrives, and as Claire takes him and Shannon to her apartment, he tells Claire that he recalls an engine blowing up. Claire counsels Shannon about her feelings for her parents, who were killed when she was a child. Eric sees the same dog outside Claire's apartment and recognizes it as a pet that died when he was young. Convinced that he was killed in the crash, he runs out of the apartment and stands in front of an onrushing train, which has no effect on him, then shouts to Clair that she should stay away from him.

Shannon disappears from Claire's apartment, but her neighbor says she left with a man and woman. Claire goes to her supervisor, who is convinced she has latched onto a conspiracy theory, and she angrily accuses him of helping Arkin cover up the truth. At Emma's house, Arkin suddenly appears and again tells Claire that the pilot was responsible for the crash (he was going through a divorce and wasn't even in the cockpit when the crash happened). Arkin departs but leaves his briefcase behind. Claire becomes hysterical after finding a ledger inside listing all the passengers who died in the crash. Claire's name is on the ledger, and Arkin is listed as the pilot.

The next morning Claire finds Eric on his boat. He explains that he withheld telling her that she and the other passengers died in the crash because everyone had to discover it individually. Deceased people and even pets from their pasts (unrecognized by the recently deceased) helped them to understand and accept death. The people Claire spoke to (including her aunt Toni, who was the kindly neighbor, and a schoolteacher Perry, who she thought was her supervisor) were dead friends or relatives. She and Eric sail from the harbor to cross over into the afterlife. A flashback shows Claire and Eric in adjacent seats on the plane, as well as other passengers and crew. During the flight, Claire and Eric develop an attraction. When the engine catches fire and the plane depressurize, Eric assures her they will be all right and the screen fades to white. The film ends with a landlord letting Emma and her husband into Claire's apartment. Emma finds a note Claire was planning to send to make peace with her.