In a bleak futuristic Californian landscape, water is the most precious commodity. Goodnatured former mechanic Ray Ward struggles to provide for his son Nathan in a harsh world where state-sponsored news broadcasts preach salvation, yet state-provided water rations shrink to inadequate levels with their poverty-stricken neighborhood - Sector 3. Through his developing relationship with Eli and Leah Palmer, a wealthy couple of a thriving, idyllic neighboring Sector under strict guard, Ray becomes a servant, bearing witness to their utopian world. However, as conditions within his Sector worsen and water access is threatened entirely, Ray must make grim decisions about what is necessary to survive and still remain someone his son can look up to.