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The film revolves around Silvia Broome (Nicole Kidman), an interpreter working at the United Nations in New York, who was born in New York and raised in the Republic of Matobo, a fictional African country. The events depicted in the film span approximately one and a half weeks.

The United Nations is considering indicting Edmond Zuwanie (Earl Cameron), president of Matobo, to trial in the International Criminal Court. Initially a liberator, over the past twenty years he has become as corrupt and tyrannical as the government he overthrew, and is now responsible for ethnic cleansing and other atrocities within Matobo. Zuwanie is soon to visit the United Nations and put forward his own case to the General Assembly, in an attempt to avoid the indictment.

A security scare forces the evacuation of the UN building, and Silvia returns at night to reclaim some personal belongings. At that time she overhears discussion of an assassination plot, and runs scared from the building when those discussing the plot become aware of her presence. The next day, Silvia recognises phrases in a meeting where she is interpreting from words she overheard the night before, and reports the incident to UN security; the target of the plot appears to be Edmond Zuwanie himself. They, in turn, call in the United States Secret Service, who assign Tobin Keller (Sean Penn) and Dot Woods (Catherine Keener) to investigate, as well as protect Zuwanie when he arrives.

Most of the film surrounds the multi-pronged investigation of the assassination plot: the efforts to secure the UN building before Zuwanie's arrival (and to find any weapons, explosives or the like that may have been smuggled in), the investigation of Zuwanie's enemies and political opponents, the investigation of janitors that work at the UN building (after Silvia's apartment is broken into, but not forcefully), and the investigation of Silvia herself. As the film progresses, we see Silvia has in the past been involved in a Matoban guerrilla group, that her parents and her sister were killed by land mines laid by Zuwanie, and even that she was girlfriend to one of Zuwanie's political opponents. Despite Keller considering Silvia a prime suspect, the two grow close as events unfold, and Keller ends up protecting her.

The assassin is discovered while Zuwanie is in the middle of his address to the General Assembly, and security personnel rush Zuwanie to a safe room for his protection. In the confusion, Silvia attempts to take revenge on Zuwanie for all that has happened, and Keller arrives just in time to prevent her from murdering him. The assassination plot is revealed to be a sham; Zuwanie planned it to enhance his own credibility - and thus avoid the indictment - while also eliminating his political opponents (one in particular is killed when a New York City bus service is bombed). Zuwanie is indicted, and Silvia is expelled from the UN, returning home to Matobo soon afterwards.

Subplots include the desperate private nature of Keller, whose wife was killed in a car accident a mere fortnight prior to these events, and the desperate private nature of Silvia, who is anxious to hear from her brother; he still lives in Matobo. Silvia later discovers that both he and her former lover were killed as part of the 'plot.'

Filmen gjorde att jag fick ännu mer lust att arbeta som tolk eftersom det verkar sjukt intressant. Man kanske borde satsa på FN istället för EU?