Plot summary

At the end of mankind on Earth, scientists build a self-sufficient underground city for a few people in order to preserve the human race for 200 years. They leave instructions for the future generations to return to the surface of the planet in a steel box that should be kept by the Mayors through the generations. However, the instructions are lost and the inhabitants stay in the city that is completely deteriorated. The power generator has problems and the blackouts are longer and more frequent and the city is running out of food that needs to be rationed. On the Assignment Day, teenagers Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) are assigned to work with the pipework and as messenger, but they swap their job positions. Lina, who is the descendant of the seventh Mayor, finds the box of instructions in her grandmother's house and shows it to her friend Doon. They decide to explore the way out of the city and they discover that the corrupt Major and his henchmen are stealing food from the population. When they are hunted by the Major's hoodlums, they must find the way out of Ember to survive and save the populations from the imminent darkness and the end of the city.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil