Introduction:

An optician (Mark Ruffalo) working in an unnamed city is called upon to treat a man who went blind for unknown reasons. Soon over ninety percent of the world’s population are affected by a mysterious epidemic, known only as the “White Sickness”, which causes sudden, unexplained blindess, of which there is no cure. The optician himself is infected, although his wife (Julianne Moore) is strangely immune to the blindess.

As the epidemic spreads, resulting in the collapse of society, the frightened and desperate government set up asylums all over the world to quarantine the blind victims, in the hopes that the epidemic can be prevented from stopping. The doctor is taken to the asylum along with the many other people infected with the highly infectious “White Sickness”, and his wife pretends to be blind – thus risking her life – to save her husband. The film follows the doctor, his wife and several people as they try to survive in this makeshift, self-governed prison where there is no law or order.

The people in ward 3, led by a man who proclaims himself “king of ward 3″, have control over the food and has a gun, and use this to demand valuables from the others, and even sexual services by the women. Reluctantly they comply. The doctor’s wife kills the king of ward 3. A man in her ward suggests to find out who did this killing, and hand this person over to ward 3 to appease them.

After a fire the doctor’s wife discovers that the guards have left, so the people are free now. Patient zero recovers from his blindness, giving the others hope that the blindness may suddenly lift as quickly and inexplicably as it came.