In the year 2257 AD, the men of the planet New World have been afflicted with the Noise, a condition that causes everyone to see and hear each other's thoughts. The colonists were caught in a civil war with the native aliens which killed all of the women, but half of the men survived. Todd Hewitt (Tom Holland) lives in Prentisstown with his adoptive fathers, Ben (Demian Bichir) and Cillian Boyd (Kurt Sutter). Other residents include the preacher Aaron (David Oyelowo), the town's mayor David Prentiss (Mads Mikkelsen), and his son Davy (Nick Jonas). A spaceship that lost contact with the First Colony approaches New World; a scout ship is sent to investigate, but it crashes. One day, while Todd is working, he spots someone stealing and chases the thief only to come upon the ruins of the scout ship.He returns to the town and tries to keep quiet, but the other men hear and see his thoughts about the crashed ship; they head to investigate the ruins and sabotage some parts of it, but find no survivors. While Todd is alone, he meets Viola (Daisy Ridley), the only survivor of the crash. Todd is shocked to see she's a girl, as he has never seen one. The men from Prentisstown capture Viola; she is brought to the mayor's home where she's questioned, and Prentiss then explains to her what the Noise is and what has happened on their planet. While he goes out to speak to the men, Davy is charged to keep an eye on her, but he unwittingly toys with one of Viola's gadgets, which causes it to shoot sparks, helping Viola escape. Ben tells Todd about another village called Farbranch and says Viola will be safe there.Viola escapes on a motorcycle while Todd chases after her on one of the horses. Prentiss and the men arrive at the farm, demanding Viola back as they believe she is a spy. Cillian is killed by Davy, and Ben is forced to join them. Meanwhile, Todd catches up to Viola and the two begin a journey to Farbranch, accompanied by Todd's dog, Manchee. During the journey, Viola reveals to Todd that she's from a Colony Ship carrying over 4000 passengers and that her parents died during the journey to New World. Todd reveals he never even knew his real parents. When they encounter one of the native aliens, Todd tries to kill it, but Viola stops him as it doesn't appear to be dangerous. They arrive at Farbranch, which is inhabited by men, women and children; they are displeased to see Todd, as he is from Prentisstown.Todd discovers his mother's diary, but can't read it, so Viola reads it to him. It's then revealed that the women were not killed by the native aliens, as Prentiss claims, but by Prentiss and the men, angering Todd when he realizes that everything he was told was a lie. Prentiss and his men arrive, again demanding Viola. Ben tries to get Todd to surrender Viola, but Todd is mad at him for lying. Instead of capturing Viola, Ben uses an image of her to distract Prentiss and his men while Todd and Viola escape. Aaron chases them. They come upon a boat, and as they escape, Aaron kills Manchee, angering Todd.The next day, Viola and Todd arrive at the ruins of the first colony ship. They enter it and try to send a signal to the colony ship, but the satellite is damaged, so Todd goes to fix it. When Prentiss and his men arrive, Todd surrenders himself, as Prentiss is holding Ben hostage. Aaron goes inside to kill Viola, but she immolates him with one of her gadgets. Todd appears, but Prentiss shoots Ben. Todd goes to him and, unknown to Prentiss, gives him a knife. Todd engages Prentiss, but he uses illusions of himself to distract Todd. As he is about to strike Todd, Todd uses illusions of his mother and every woman, calling Prentiss a coward. Viola attacks Prentiss, who seemingly falls to his death. The colony ship appears in the sky, causing Davy and the remaining men of Prentisstown to flee.Todd wakes up in the colony ship's medical room, fully healed, and he and Viola head out to meet the other colonists.