In 1985, a drug smuggler named Andrew Thornton II drops a massive haul of cocaine over the Chattahoochee-St. Johns National Forest in Georgia before accidentally plunging to his death. Shortly thereafter, a 500-pound American black bear stumbles upon one of the duffel bags and ingests a staggering amount of the pure white powder. Driven into an insatiable, hyper-aggressive frenzy by the drug, the massive predator embarks on a bloody, chaotic rampage through the wilderness, seeking more of
the substance.Meanwhile, various unsuspecting locals and travelers cross paths with the rampaging beast. Sari, a devoted mother, ventures into the forest with her
young daughter Dee Dee and her friend Henry to find the children, who have skipped school to paint a waterfall. Concurrently, a ruthless drug lord named Syd White sends his grieving son, Eddie, and his volatile enforcer, Daveed, to recover the millions of dollars in lost product, accompanied by a reluctant local drug dealer named Bob. Park ranger Liz and a quirky animal activist named Peter also find themselves patrolling the woods, completely unprepared for the monstrous threat they face.As the day progresses, the cocaine-fueled bear terrorizes anyone in its path, attacking a group of rowdy teenagers, disrupting a crime scene investigation by local police officers Stache and Bob, and brutally picking off Syd’s men one by one. The human characters are forced to form fragile alliances and use desperate survival tactics as the predator exhibits unnatural speed, strength, and resilience, seemingly impervious to pain or tranquilizers.The climax converges at an abandoned visitor center. Eddie and Daveed confront Sari and the children, but the bear soon crashes the scene, drawn by the residual cocaine scattered around the area. Syd White arrives via helicopter to salvage the remaining drugs and rescue his son, but his greed ultimately proves fatal when the beast rips him apart. Eddie, having grown disillusioned with his father's cruelty and the violent underworld, chooses to leave the remaining cocaine behind and escape with the survivors. In the chaotic aftermath, Sari, the children, and the surviving adults make their harrowing way out of the forest, permanently scarred by their encounter with nature's most terrifying apex predator. Deep in the woods, the surviving bear and her cubs are later seen wandering away, having fully adapted to their chaotic new environment.