| Director | Kip Williams, Paul Holbrook |
|---|---|
| Box office | $1 million |
Artist Clay Riddell abandons his wife Sharon and son Johnny to fulfill his dream of publishing a graphic novel. A year later, at Boston International Airport, Clay calls his family on his cell phone with good news about his new career. His battery dies, so he calls using a payphone. An electronic signal (later dubbed "the pulse") is broadcast across mobile networks worldwide, turning cell phone users into rabid killers. Clay witnesses two planes colliding midair and flees into a subway station. One of the planes crashes and destroys the terminal. Clay meets survivors in a subway car. Train conductor Tom McCourt reveals that the power is out, the train cannot move and the station will flood within hours due to the pumps being shut down. Tom then suggests abandoning the train and traveling through the tunnels. Clay agrees and, joined by a third man, attempts to escape the airport.
Near the tunnel's exit, their companion is slaughtered by an infected man, later dubbed a "phoner". Clay leads Tom to his apartment. That night, they are joined by teenage neighbor Alice Maxwell, who killed her mother in self-defense. All three decide to escape Boston. Heading north through New England to find Sharon and Johnny, the three acquire weapons from a house and are chased by phoners to a nearby river. They hide from the infected, who start emitting signals from their mouths before walking off.
After sundown, the three arrive at a private school and meet two survivors: headmaster Charles Ardai and student Jordan. Charles postulates that the phoners have developed a hive mind and are telepathic. Thousands of phoners lay inert in the school's athletic field. They all emit faint music with static noise from their mouths. Charles plans to use the stadium's gas pumps and a sprayer truck to burn the phoners, and the others agree to help. Clay and Tom drive over the phoners, spraying them with gasoline, which Charles sets ablaze. The fire spreads to the truck, causing an explosion that kills Charles.
The remaining group, now including Jordan, takes shelter at an abandoned drive-in theater. After going to sleep, they all dream of a raggedy-looking man in a red hoodie, a character from Clay's book. Later, they encounter survivors in a roadside bar. There, they learn about Kashwak, a state park in Maine where there is said to be no cell service. After agreeing to travel there, they spend the night in the bar. Survivor Sally is awakened and infected by a group outside. She can now transmit the pulse through her mouth. The group attacks Tom and Jordan. After saving Tom from a phoner, Alice is bludgeoned in the head by Sally, whom Tom kills. The group takes Alice outside, where she succumbs to her head wound.
Later, the group encounters a sleepless Ray Huizenga and his friend Denise, who say that Kashwak is a trap set by the Raggedy Man. Ray becomes agitated, muttering that the Raggedy Man is planting thoughts in his head. He gives Clay his phone and tells him to call the number on it when they reach the end of the road. Ray then kills himself with a bomb. In Ray's truck, the group discovers C-4 explosives. When they reach Sharon's house, Clay learns that Johnny headed for Kashwak and Sharon turned into a phoner. After killing her, Clay drives alone to Kashwak in Ray’s truck, intent on locating Johnny, while the others continue north towards Canada, leaving marks as a trail for Clay.
At Kashwak, Clay finds phoners trapped in a trance, walking in a circle around a communications tower. Clay sees the Raggedy Man at the center of the circle, runs him over and repeatedly shoots him. Then Clay hears his son calling to him from amongst the flock and escapes from the circle. An infected Johnny appears before him, and the Raggedy Man returns to life. Clay hugs Johnny while calling the number on Ray's phone, detonating the explosives in the truck, destroying the tower and the phoners. Clay and Johnny find the marks and follow the trail toward Clay's friends. However, the explosion is actually an illusion: Clay was infected after entering the Raggedy Man's trap and now walks in the circle around the tower.