1942. Tens of thousands of brave young British and ANZAC soldiers become prisoners of war when Japanese forces overrun Singapore. Eric Lomax, (Colin Firth/Jeremy Irvine) a 21 year old British Signals Engineer and railway enthusiast, is one of the surrendered men.

Decades later, Eric meets a beautiful woman, Patti (Nicole Kidman), on a train journey. They marry quickly, but Eric is soon tormented by his memories and trapped by a code of silence that will destroy him, until the determination of the woman he loves gives him the strength to face and survive the battlefield of his mind.