The Mayan sacred astronomers believed that every 5,126 years the world experienced a rebirth. According to their calculations, on midnight of December 21, 2012 the world would come to an end and the Fifth World would begin. Only four people in the world knew of the approaching apocalypse and in the hours leading up to the aforementioned time, three are found dead. The only one left, Tess Mitchell, must race against the clock to escape the same fate.