For a handsome $1,000-a-day reward, unemployed pacifist Travis decides to take part in a controversial two-week behavioral experiment that will attempt to simulate life within the prison walls. Inside a controlled environment, two hand-picked groups of 20 inmates and six guards must follow a simple set of basic rules while high-tech cameras monitor the entire makeshift jail. However, devoid of their civil rights and their identities, the volunteers soon find themselves dragged into a dangerous and volatile situation as the sadistic warders begin to take extreme pleasure in enforcing their authority. Under those circumstances, Travis, or the rebellious Prisoner #77, needs to explore his limits. How long can he last?