Mike (Mark Wahlberg) is a safety maintenance worker on the Deepwater Horizon, an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. After saying goodbye to his wife Fricia (Kate Hudson), Mike will face 21 days of continuous operation again. Mike has a lot of work experience. During his tenure, there were no production accidents on the rig, so he was deeply trusted by his superiors and colleagues. Project leader Donald (John Malkovich) hopes to speed up the mining process, but Mike says this will bring great safety risks. Donald did not listen to Mike's warning, but insisted on his own way, causing a violent explosion in the rig. In an instant, the sea of fire engulfed the workers, and 126 drillers were trapped on the brink of death.