U.S Army officer Will Montgomery (Ben Foster) has just returned home from Iraq and is assigned to the Army's Casualty Notification service. Ordered to bear the bad news to families of fallen soldiers, and partnered with officer Captain Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), Will faces this formidable mission while still reeling from his own war experiences. Against protocol, Will is drawn to a recently fallen soldiers's wife (Samantha Morton) to whom he has just notified of her husband's death. In this emotionally charged landscape, THE MESSENGER brings us into the inner lives of these outwardly steely heroes to reveal their fragility with compassion and authenticity.