Plying the vast uncharted waters of the South Pacific, the Pacific Searcher, a state-of-the-art oil exploration vessel, comes across an island not on any of their charts. Jokingly named Skull Island by their devil-may-care captain, Hiram Yates, he leads a landing party ashore. Although they don't find a great ape, they do make their own startling discovery. The island is inhabited by a tribe of simple natives that time has forgotten. Ignorant to the ways of the outside world, the villagers look upon their new visitors, especially the captain, as "Servants of God." Yates quickly seizes upon their devotion as a great tool to gain cooperation and possible oil rights from the natives. But his plan is not embraced by all, especially his First Officer, Dallas Murphy, who thinks this little "white lie" can only lead to trouble. As they explore the island, tensions mount between Yates and Murphy over the treatment of the natives. But more than egos clash on the sun soaked island, and the illusion of peace and tranquility is shattered when they discover an even deeper deception that threatens the lives of all aboard the Pacific Searcher, and tens of thousands of innocent lives around the world. With time running out, Murphy must create his own illusion in a desperate bid to prevent a global disaster from striking at every corner of the planet.