Sandy Edwards (Toni Collette), an ambitious geologist, suddenly finds herself having to baby-sit Hiromitsu (Gotaro Tsunashima) a taciturn Japanese businessman. Hoping to strike up a business deal, she agrees to take him on a field trip around Western Australia's remote Pilbara desert. Against the background of the outback these two diametrically opposed strangers are to find themselves thrust together in a potentially life or death situation. As they journey further and further into the desert, they leave more and more of what they know about each other and themselves behind.