Wealthy investment banker Nicholas Van Orton, estranged from his ex-wife and his younger brother Conrad, is haunted by having seen his father commit suicide on his father’s 48th birthday. For Nicholas’s own 48th birthday, Conrad presents him with an unusual gift—a voucher for a game offered by a company called Consumer Recreation Services (CRS), promising that it will change his life.
Though doubtful about CRS, Nicholas meets fellow bankers who enjoyed the game. He goes to the CRS offices to apply, but the lengthy and time-consuming series of psychological and physical examinations required irritates him, and he is later informed that his application has been rejected. Soon Nicholas starts believing that his business, reputation, finances, and safety are endangered. He encounters a waitress, Christine, who appears to have been endangered by the game. Nicholas contacts the police, but they find the CRS offices abandoned.
Eventually, Conrad appears at Nicholas’s house and apologizes, claiming CRS has attacked him. With no one else to turn to, Nicholas finds Christine’s home, discovering she is a CRS employee and her apartment was fake. When Christine says they are being watched, Nicholas attacks a nearby camera, and armed CRS personnel swarm the house and fire upon the pair, who flee. Christine tells him CRS has drained his bank accounts using the psychological tests to guess his passwords. Panicking, Nicholas calls his bank, gives a verification code and is told his balance is zero. He begins to feel dizzy and realizes that she has drugged him. As he loses consciousness, she admits she is part of the scam and that he made a fatal mistake in giving his verification code over the phone.