Joe (Nicolas Cage), un asesino a sueldo, es contratado por un gangster de Bangkok para eliminar a sus enemigos. Al llegar a la ciudad, recluta como ayudante a Kong, un ladronzuelo al que planea matar al terminar el trabajo para no dejar ningún rastro. Pero las cosas se irán poniendo difíciles para Joe conforme la relación con Kong se hace más estrecha. Cuando el mafioso que lo contrató se vuelve contra él y captura a su nuevo amigo, Joe reaccionará con toda la violencia de la que es capaz.

Joe is a professional hit man who picks someone off the street to do his errands, and after he is finished kills that person. His next assignment takes him to Bangkok, and as usual, he finds a street kid named Kong to help him. After Kong has a close call and learns who Joe is, Kong asks him to train him and he does. Joe also meets a local girl who is deaf and spends time with her. However, Joe has a hard time keeping his other life from her. It also appears that the person who hired Joe, breaks his rule of complete anonymity and tries to find him.