Source plot synopsis — includes the ending
After finishing a mission in Kyiv, IMF agent Jim Phelps and his latest team are sent to Prague to stop rogue agent Alexander Golitsyn from stealing the CIA's NOC (non-official cover) list, which reveals the identities of all their undercover agents in Europe. However, the list is stolen, and the team is killed one by one, along with Golitsyn, leaving Jim's pointman Ethan Hunt the only survivor.
During a debriefing with IMF director Eugene Kittridge in a restaurant, Ethan realizes that another IMF team was present during the mission and that the operation was a setup to lure out a mole within the IMF with the help of Golitsyn, who was posing as the rogue agent. The mole is believed to be working with an arms dealer named "Max" as part of "Job 314". Realizing that Kittridge suspects he is the mole, Ethan escapes, using a plastic explosive disguised as chewing gum.
After returning to the Prague safe house, Ethan realizes "Job 314" actually refers to Bible verse Job 3:14, with "Job" being the mole's code name. Jim's wife Claire, who faked her death during the mission, arrives and explains that before his death, Jim warned her that they were compromised, which enabled her escape. Ethan arranges a meeting with Max to warn her that her NOC list is fake and that it is equipped with a tracking device. Despite Max's initial skepticism, they escape a raid by Kittridge's team. Ethan convinces Max that he can obtain the actual NOC list for $10 million and Job's true identity.
Ethan and Claire recruit two disavowed IMF agents, high-level hacker Luther Stickell and pilot Franz Krieger. They infiltrate CIA headquarters in Langley, steal the authentic list in an elaborate heist, and escape to London. Krieger takes the magneto-optical disk containing the list which he reveals to be real, but Ethan tricks him into giving it up before giving it to Luther for safekeeping. Kittridge has Ethan's mother and uncle falsely arrested to lure Ethan out. After learning about the arrests, Ethan contacts Kittridge from a payphone, intentionally allowing the IMF to trace the call. Jim resurfaces unexpectedly, recounts surviving the shooting, and tells Ethan that Kittridge is the mole. However, Ethan has already realized that Jim is the mole after discovering that the Bible he used in Prague was taken from Chicago's Drake Hotel, where Jim was stationed on a previous assignment. Ethan also realizes Krieger is Jim’s accomplice by recognizing his knife as the same one that was used to kill Golitsyn and one of his team members in Prague. Ethan pretends to believe Jim and arranges to exchange the list with Max aboard the TGV train to Paris, secretly inviting Kittridge to the meeting.
On the train, Ethan directs Max to the list, and she sends him to the baggage car where the money and Job are located. Meanwhile, Luther blocks Max's upload of the list to her servers. Claire goes to the car to collect her share of the money from Jim, revealing that she was also working with Jim the whole time. As she approaches "Jim", Ethan removes the mask he was wearing to disguise himself as Jim. When the real Jim arrives and takes the money at gunpoint, Ethan sends a live video of the confrontation to Kittridge, exposing Jim as the mole. Claire tries reasoning with her husband, but Jim kills her and subdues Ethan. Jim climbs to the train's roof and attempts to flee with Krieger in a helicopter using a rope, but Ethan hooks it onto the train, forcing the helicopter into the Channel Tunnel. He uses another piece of explosive to destroy the chopper, killing Jim and Krieger. Kittridge takes Max into custody and recovers the NOC list from Luther. As he and Luther are reinstated in the IMF, Ethan is unsure about returning to the team. On the flight home, an attendant approaches him and covertly offers him the chance to take on a new mission as team leader.
During a debriefing with IMF director Eugene Kittridge in a restaurant, Ethan realizes that another IMF team was present during the mission and that the operation was a setup to lure out a mole within the IMF with the help of Golitsyn, who was posing as the rogue agent. The mole is believed to be working with an arms dealer named "Max" as part of "Job 314". Realizing that Kittridge suspects he is the mole, Ethan escapes, using a plastic explosive disguised as chewing gum.
After returning to the Prague safe house, Ethan realizes "Job 314" actually refers to Bible verse Job 3:14, with "Job" being the mole's code name. Jim's wife Claire, who faked her death during the mission, arrives and explains that before his death, Jim warned her that they were compromised, which enabled her escape. Ethan arranges a meeting with Max to warn her that her NOC list is fake and that it is equipped with a tracking device. Despite Max's initial skepticism, they escape a raid by Kittridge's team. Ethan convinces Max that he can obtain the actual NOC list for $10 million and Job's true identity.
Ethan and Claire recruit two disavowed IMF agents, high-level hacker Luther Stickell and pilot Franz Krieger. They infiltrate CIA headquarters in Langley, steal the authentic list in an elaborate heist, and escape to London. Krieger takes the magneto-optical disk containing the list which he reveals to be real, but Ethan tricks him into giving it up before giving it to Luther for safekeeping. Kittridge has Ethan's mother and uncle falsely arrested to lure Ethan out. After learning about the arrests, Ethan contacts Kittridge from a payphone, intentionally allowing the IMF to trace the call. Jim resurfaces unexpectedly, recounts surviving the shooting, and tells Ethan that Kittridge is the mole. However, Ethan has already realized that Jim is the mole after discovering that the Bible he used in Prague was taken from Chicago's Drake Hotel, where Jim was stationed on a previous assignment. Ethan also realizes Krieger is Jim’s accomplice by recognizing his knife as the same one that was used to kill Golitsyn and one of his team members in Prague. Ethan pretends to believe Jim and arranges to exchange the list with Max aboard the TGV train to Paris, secretly inviting Kittridge to the meeting.
On the train, Ethan directs Max to the list, and she sends him to the baggage car where the money and Job are located. Meanwhile, Luther blocks Max's upload of the list to her servers. Claire goes to the car to collect her share of the money from Jim, revealing that she was also working with Jim the whole time. As she approaches "Jim", Ethan removes the mask he was wearing to disguise himself as Jim. When the real Jim arrives and takes the money at gunpoint, Ethan sends a live video of the confrontation to Kittridge, exposing Jim as the mole. Claire tries reasoning with her husband, but Jim kills her and subdues Ethan. Jim climbs to the train's roof and attempts to flee with Krieger in a helicopter using a rope, but Ethan hooks it onto the train, forcing the helicopter into the Channel Tunnel. He uses another piece of explosive to destroy the chopper, killing Jim and Krieger. Kittridge takes Max into custody and recovers the NOC list from Luther. As he and Luther are reinstated in the IMF, Ethan is unsure about returning to the team. On the flight home, an attendant approaches him and covertly offers him the chance to take on a new mission as team leader.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history ↗ · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Mission: Impossible (film). Section headings and formatting adjusted. · Content license