In the near future, weather exchange has brought about the seas to rise and flood Miami. Extreme daylight temperatures have compelled the majority of the populace to stay at night.
Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) and his buddy Emily "Watts" Sanders (Thandiwe Newton) perform an enterprise that allows people to relive memories. One day, a walk-in patron, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), asks for their assistance in finding her lacking keys. Nick is straight away interested in her; looking at her memories of that nighttime, he learns she is a nightclub singer and feels a connection with her while she sings his favorite music, "Where or When.". Nick and Mae start dating, although Watts distrusts her. DA Avery wants Nick to help put Land Mafia Walter Sylvain within the Recollections gadget to prove that he ordered the burning down of a residential building, so he should later gather it for pennies on the greenback. But Walter is sick, and his lawyers argue that he's in no country to be subjected to this.
Months later, Mae has disappeared without a word. Watts thinks she has moved on; however, Nick believes she might be in some sort of trouble. Hoping to discover a clue to her whereabouts, Nick spends hours repeatedly reliving his recollections of their dating, a risky exercise that could forever lure him into the memory.
Prosecutor Avery Castillo (Natalie Martinez) hires Nick and Watts to retrieve memories from a comatose suspect who labored for a drug kingpin named Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) in New Orleans. In the person's memories, Nick sees that Mae became as soon as Saint Joe's mistress and had emerged as hooked on "Baca," an incredibly addictive narcotic. The reminiscences also display that Mae stole Saint Joe's stash of Baca earlier than fleeing town. Nick is devastated to learn that Mae has become an addict, something that Watts already knew.
Nick travels to New Orleans and confronts Saint Joe, who says he has heard nothing from Mae since she left him. Saint Joe has his men attempt to drown Nick, but Watts rescues him and kills Saint Joe and his team. Back in Miami, Nick has Watts relive her ultimate comeback with Mae and discovers Mae broke into the vault, wherein they store recordings of their clients' reminiscences. They find out Mae stole recordings of Elsa Carine (Angela Sarafyan), a patron who time and again relived her trysts with an older, rich lover. Nick recognizes the voice of her lover as Walter Sylvan (Brett Cullen), a wealthy "land baron" who has currently died.
Investigating, Nick learns that Elsa was recently murdered and that her younger son was kidnapped by a female who matches Mae's description. While attempting to find Mae, Nick is attacked by Cyrus Boothe (Cliff Curtis), a former henchman & corrupt cop working for Saint Joe. But Boothe and Joe had a falling out and Boothe moved to Miami. He is now running for Walter Sylvan. Watts realizes that Nick is getting deeper and deeper into his obsession with finding Mae.
