Nowhere sees a pregnant woman, trapped in a shipping container in the middle of nowhere, trying to survive on her own. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
In a world where there is a shortage of basic resources, governments start falling everywhere. A totalitarian regime took over Spain and other neighboring countries. The regime exterminates the elderly, pregnant women, and children to deal with the shortages.
A pregnant woman named Mia and her husband, Nico, decide to flee the country and go to Ireland, where the regime has been rejected by the citizens, after their daughter, Uma, is killed.
Mia took Uma, who was sick of being cooped up in the house for days and complained, out to play for a few minutes. The police found Uma and took her to kill her in those few minutes.
Mia and Nico give up everything that they own to pay the men, who smuggle refugees, to be taken to Ireland in shipping containers. While they get a place in a container, Mia and Nico are separated even before their journey starts.
Nico is sent to a different container, but Mia and Nico can still talk to each other, as they have their phones with them. When their containers get to the port, the police check Mia’s container, and an officer figures out that there are people hiding inside.
Mia manages to climb on a crate and hide herself, but all the others are shot to death. Mia is the only survivor when the container gets to the ship. However, due to a storm, Mia’s container is thrown overboard.
Mia is injured and realizes that she is drifting in the sea with land nowhere in sight. There are holes in the container, and the water keeps seeping in slowly. Mia manages to cover the holes and is relieved to find that Nico is still alive when he calls her.
It turns out that Nico never made it to the port. His truck driver cheated him and the others and left them behind in the city. When Nico calls Mia, she tells him about what happened to her, and Nico promises to find a way to save her.
Soon after, Mia goes into labor and delivers her daughter all by herself. She names her daughter Noa, a name that Nico had chosen. However, Mia’s phone screen is cracked, so she cannot call Nico; she has to wait for Nico to call her because she can still receive calls.
Mia knows that she has to survive with her daughter until Nico finds them. She uses the items in the crate to block the holes and keep the water level low. However, there is no food or water in the container except what the people were carrying with them.
A few days later, Mia runs out of food and water. A starving and dehydrated Mia tries to open the container to get out of it. She drills holes to open a part of the top of the container, which will allow her to climb out.
That turns out to be harder than expected due to a number of factors. Mia then eats some of her own umbilical cord and gets to have water when rainwater comes in through the holes that she has drilled. Finally, Mia gets some strength and manages to create an opening.
Mia and Noa can now get some sunlight and look for help. Additionally, Mia makes use of the various items inside the container to make a fishing net. She is then able to catch fish and does not have to starve anymore.
Furthermore, in these difficult times, Noa gives Mia strength. Mia talks to her and even tells her about Uma’s death, which she believes was her fault. Mia has lost one daughter, and she is not willing to lose another, so she keeps trying to survive for Noa.
One day, Mia injures herself badly and has to suture the wound with whatever items she has at her disposal. It has been twelve days since Mia got trapped inside the container. Baby Noa is not doing so well, and Nico has not contacted Mia in days.
Nowhere ending explained in detail:
What happens to Nico?
To get to his pregnant wife, Nico sneaks onto a ship and hides there. However, he is found and shot. Before dying, Nico calls Mia to say goodbye and tell her that he will not be able to rescue her, even though he tried as hard as he could.
Mia tells Nico about Noa’s birth, and he gets to speak to his daughter for the first and the last time. Nico wants his wife and daughter to survive, so he makes Mia promise that she will make it out alive.
Does Mia find Noa?
After 26 days of living in the container, Mia cannot keep the water out anymore. She has to live on top of the container with Noa. The container is almost completely filled with water, and the pictures that Mia had of her family are lost.
Mia goes inside the container to retrieve Uma’s photograph when she sees it floating and gets stuck there. By the time she gets out, the container, which is now completely filled with water, has started drowning, causing Noa’s makeshift cradle to slide off the top.
In the darkness of the night, Mia cannot find Noa. She keeps calling out Noa’s name, but to no avail. A whale surrounds Noa, and when Noa gets splashed with water, she starts crying. The whale does not harm them, and Noa’s cries help Mia find her.
Do Mia and Noa make it out alive?
Although Mia finds Noa, now that the container has drowned, they are both drifting in the sea with nothing to support them except Noa’s cradle. Without food, water, and other necessities, Mia knows that they will not survive for long if they do not find help soon.
They are both terribly cold, and Noa has a fever. Mia tells Noa about how she helped her and gave her the strength to survive. Mia thinks that she did everything in her power to save them.
Mia notices that there are seagulls flying around, which means that there is land nearby. In a last-ditch effort, Mia releases into the water what is left of her umbilical cord. This draws many seagulls to them, which gets the attention of a fishing boat.
A fisherwoman, who had been fishing with her father and her son, finds Noa and rescues her. Mia, on the other hand, drowns, but as she had tied herself to Noa’s cradle, the fisherwoman is able to pull her out of the water.
The fisherwoman performs CPR and saves Mia’s life. The fisherwoman’s father contacts the emergency services, as Mia and Noa require urgent medical attention. Noa sees the fisherwoman’s son, which indicates the absence of the regime. Mia cries tears of relief upon realizing that she has made it to Ireland with Noa.
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