The film opens in Africa, where a group of poachers come across a pride of lions feeding off a zebra carcass. The poachers shoot the lions but miss the leader of the pride. The men begin to set a trap for the head lion, only to be unaware that it is close. One of the poachers emerges with his face and throat slashed, just before the lion pounces from the field and attacks another poacher.
Dr. Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) is arriving in the same location with his daughters, Meredith/”Mere” (Iyana Halley) and Norah (Leah Jeffries), for a safari vacation. They meet with Nate’s friend, Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley), who is set to guide them on their trip. Nate and the girls are also still mourning the loss of his wife Amahle (Naledi Mogadime) to cancer. While having dinner together, Mere expresses anger toward Nate for not being there in Amahle’s final days due to his work. Nate later tells Martin his regrets over the ordeal.
The next day, Martin leads the family on their safari, accompanied by his friend Banji (Tafara Nyatsanza). They stop and see a pride of lions that Martin has raised since they were cubs, so the lions greet him like big friendly pets. Martin sees one lioness with a bullet wound in her paw, but when he tries to approach her, she growls at him, and one of the other lions pushes Martin away.
As they continue their trip, the group comes across a village that seems vacated. Nate and Martin enter the houses and find the rotting corpses of many villagers, having been attacked by the head lion from the slain pride. Nate tells the girls to stay by the car. They continue their drive and find a wounded man named Mutende (Ronald Mkwanazi). Martin goes off on his own while Nate attempts to apply first aid to Mutende, but he dies. Martin appears to see the lion and fires a shot from his rifle. Nate goes to check on him and sees the lion coming his way. He runs back to the car just as the lion chases him and attempts to break into the car. Nate drives the car but ends up against a hill where the car stalls.
The lion moves away from Nate and the girls while he attempts to contact Martin, whose leg has been badly wounded by the lion. Nate guides him via walkie-talkie through stopping the bleeding while they try to figure out a way to rescue him. Nate finds a tranquilizer rifle and tries to keep an eye out for the lion. After Mere spots the location where Martin says he is, she steps out of the car to try and help, while the lion appears from above a rock. The creature attacks Nate as he tries to tranquilize it, and Mere manages to make her way to Martin. Norah sticks a dart in the lion’s rear while it is going after Nate, and Mere is able to bring Martin back safely.
The group stays in the car going into the night, trying to salvage what little water they have as they try to find a way to look for help. The lion’s tranquilizer also wears off faster than they expected, and it continues stalking the area. Nate has a nightmare about the lion going after the girls. He tells Mere that he loved their mother and regrets not being there when she needed him. Soon, the group hears a voice through the walkie-talkie and calls attention to their location.
The group is found by poachers, who turn their guns on the group when they recognize Martin, as he is an anti-poacher that has killed some of their men. Everyone then hears the lion growling before it makes its attack. Nate gets the girls to safety as he decides he has to steal the poachers’ van. The lion kills all the poachers, and Nate goes off to find the van keys. When the lion gets closer to the group’s car, Martin tells the girls to run to the van. The lion attempts to break through the window that it earlier broke, and Martin pushes it along with the car down the hill. The lion tries to get Martin, but he spots the leaking gas and ignites it, blowing himself and the car up while setting the lion on fire.
As morning comes, Nate drives the girls closer to their camp, but he stops at an abandoned building to try and give Mere medical help since she was wounded by the lion. Nate keeps the girls hidden as the lion, now badly burnt, shows up. Nate comes up with an idea and starts to create noise to draw the lion toward him.
Nate runs out into the field, which happens to be in the same area where Martin showed them the pride of lions. Nate then fights the lion one-on-one, hitting it and stabbing it while the lion tries taking bites out of him. As he is close to being mortally wounded, the other lions from the pride go after the villain lion and overpower it before tearing it to shreds. Nate then passes out and sees a vision of Amahle, seemingly ready to join her in death.
Nate wakes up in the hospital next to Mere and Norah. They commend him for knowing that the other lions would kill the villain lion to protect their pride. They also tell him that Banji rescued them.
The family continues their vacation and take a picture next to a tree where a huge flock of birds fly out.