Three young Muslim men, part of a terror cell, are making a bomb in a London flat, when they get a call to vacate immediately with their gear. The police have been alerted and they are under suspicion. Asif, Shahid and Mushtaq grab suitcases, the computer, and a cardboard box containing bomb making equipment and bolt out the door. Shahid's getaway car is clamped so the three are forced to escape on foot from the pursuing police. Cornered, they dive into a restaurant on a busy city street. It is the Olympus Grill and dinner is being served to its well-heeled clientele. With the police outside, Asif, Shahid and Mushtaq have nowhere to go. Mushtaq, thinking quickly, declares that they will hold the restaurant goers hostage. The diners are forced to get up from their tables where they have been enjoying the delicious Greek cuisine. They are lined up against a wall. Electra, the young waitress, is also forced to stand in line.

红色水银是在9/11袭击余波后这个焦虑年代里的一次发人深思的探险。恐怖威胁问题突出，媒体用大量的时间和数不清的专栏来报道这一主题。红色水银以一个迅速的、反映事实的，却有争议的视角来揭示这次袭击背后的真实原因，就像是从这三个迷茫的、恐惧的穆斯林男孩的角度来写这个故事。 有前途的人才纳卫因·考德瑞、亚历克斯·堪恩和桑河·谢拉饰演年轻的穆斯林恐怖袭击者。他们在其原来的恐怖计划失败后在伦敦旅馆匆忙地劫持了一群人质。 以《一个三伏天的下午》，《全面包围》，和《空中监狱》的风格，红色水银意在探询英国情报部门和政府是如何处理这场他们一直宣称为避无可避的恐怖袭击。正当人质和劫持者之间的隔阂逐渐减少时，神秘的政府操控也秘密地卷入其中。