Plot

Nick Bannister, a private investigator of the mind, navigates the alluring world of the past when his life is changed by new client Mae. A simple case becomes an obsession after she disappears and he fights to learn the truth about her.

In a distant future in which Miami suffered severe consequences with global warming and became practically submerged, a particular Miami researcher is one of the highest references when it comes to recapturing lost or distant memories and return them to its contractors. But when he realizes a personal conflict with one of his clients, the situation becomes complicated.—anonymous

Against the backdrop of a flooded Miami, a defenceless victim of climate change, private investigator Nick Bannister delves into the depths of his clients' memories to retrieve cherished, well-hidden emotions. However, when Nick breaks protocol and falls madly in love with cryptic, sultry jazz singer Mae, a strange series of events sets in motion a desperate mission to unearth the truth. But the past can haunt a person, and obsession can paralyse us. In the end, when memories are all Mae has left, what will it take Nick to recover the buried bits and pieces of her precious reminiscences?—Nick Riganas

In the near future, climate change has caused the seas to rise and flood Miami. Extreme daytime temperatures have forced most of the population to live at night.

Nick Bannister (Hugh Jackman) and his friend Emily "Watts" Sanders (Thandiwe Newton) operate a business that allows people to relive memories. One day, a walk-in client, Mae (Rebecca Ferguson), asks for their help finding her missing keys. Nick is instantly attracted to her; observing her memories of that evening, he learns she is a nightclub singer and feels a connection with her when she sings his favorite song, "Where or When". Nick and Mae begin a relationship, although Watts distrusts her. DA Avery wants Nick to help put Land mafia Walter Sylvain in the memories machine to prove that he ordered burning down of a residential building, so he could later acquire it for pennies on the dollar. But Walter is sick, and his lawyers argue that he is in no state to be subjected to this test.

Months later, Mae has disappeared without a word. Watts thinks she has moved on, but Nick believes she might be in some kind of trouble. Hoping to find a clue to her whereabouts, Nick spends hours repeatedly reliving his memories of their relationship, a dangerous practice that could forever trap him in the memory.

Prosecutor Avery Castillo (Natalie Martinez) hires Nick and Watts to retrieve memories from a comatose suspect who worked for a drug kingpin named Saint Joe (Daniel Wu) in New Orleans. In the man's memories, Nick sees that Mae was once Saint Joe's mistress and had become addicted to "Baca," a highly addictive narcotic. The memories also reveal that Mae stole Saint Joe's stash of Baca before fleeing town. Nick is devastated to learn that Mae was 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 try to drown Nick, but Watts rescues him and kills Saint Joe and his crew. Back in Miami, Nick has Watts relive her last encounter with Mae, and discovers Mae broke into the vault where they store recordings of their clients' memories. They discover Mae stole recordings of Elsa Carine (Angela Sarafyan), a client who repeatedly relived her trysts with an older, wealthy lover. Nick recognizes the voice of her lover as Walter Sylvan (Brett Cullen), a wealthy "land baron" who has recently died.

Investigating, Nick learns that Elsa was recently murdered, and her young son was kidnapped by a woman who matches Mae's description. While searching for 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 working for Walter Sylvan. Watts realizes that Nick is getting deeper and deeper into his obsession with finding Mae. She reveals that she loves Nick and begs him to stay in his current life. But Nick fires Watts and decides to pursue Mae.

Realizing that Elsa's son was likely the child of Walter Sylvan and thus a potential heir to his fortune, Nick confronts Sylvan's widow, Tamara (Marina De Tavira), a former client whose memory has been damaged. In a moment of lucidity, Tamara points Nick to a place where Boothe and Mae could be hiding. Nick tracks Boothe down. Nick and Boothe fight, with Boothe almost drowning before Nick can subdue him. Nick takes Boothe back to his office and hooks him up to the machine to view his memories.

Boothe's memories reveal that the basis of Mae's relationship with Nick was a lie: after Boothe enlisted her in a plan to con Nick, she researched Nick to learn how to seduce him better and staged the loss of her keys. But the memories also show that Mae came to genuinely love Nick. When Boothe murdered Elsa, Mae took Elsa's son and fled, stashing him at an unknown location. Later, Boothe found Mae and tried to force her to reveal the child's location.

Nick watches the memory as Mae delivers a speech to Boothe, which is actually meant for him. She indirectly reveals the location of Elsa's son and professes her love for Nick. Then, seeing only one way out of her situation, Mae takes a lethal dose of Baca and jumps off a balcony to her death. Devastated, Nick forces Boothe to relive his worst memory: when Saint Joe's men burned his face as punishment for skimming profits. He burns Boothe's memory, so he has to relive this memory again and again, in endless pain. He confronts Sylvan's legitimate son Sebastian (Mojean Aria), who hired Boothe to eliminate Elsa and his half-brother to protect his inheritance. Sebastian almost commits suicide, but he changes his mind and is arrested.

Nick confesses to Watts that he intentionally "burned" Boothe's memories, a major crime. He is convicted and allowed to serve his sentence using his machine to relive his time with Mae, which is implied to be the rest of his life. In his memory, Nick recounts to Mae a shortened version of the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, ending with the lovers reunited and happy, before the story's usual conclusion.