On 27 June, 1976 four hijackers seized an Air France flight. The plane was on its way from Tel Aviv to Paris, the hijackers were two members of the PFLP (The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) and two German members of the left-wing extremist group, Revolutionary Cells. They held over a hundred hostages – mainly Israelis – for a whole week. Among other demands, they sought the release of forty imprisoned Palestinian terrorists and combatants. This film reconstructs what happened after the aircraft landed in Entebbe where the hijackers were supported by Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Based on new research, the film offers its own version of the hijacking, in particular with regard to the release of the non-Jewish hostages. At the same time, the film describes in minute detail the efforts of the Israeli government whose security commandos eventually bring the entire event to an end by force. As in his earlier works, director José Padilha uses real events as an opportunity to explore themes of fear, violence, destruction and self-destruction.