John Milton (Nicolas Cage) is a criminal that has broken out of Hell to kill Jonah King (Billy Burke), a cult leader that tricked Milton's daughter into joining his followers in the wake of Milton's death only to kill her and her husband and steal their daughter - Milton's granddaughter - to be sacrificed in a Satanist ritual.
After interrogating some of King's followers, Milton discovers that the ritual will take place in Stillwater, a prison in Louisiana. He heads there, but stops by a diner, where he meets Piper (Amber Heard), a waitress that is withholding sex from her boyfriend, Frank (Todd Farmer), so he will marry her. Milton's car is damaged, so he sabotages Piper's car and follows her to fix it in exchange for a ride to her home, which is on the way to Smithfalls.
There, Piper sees Frank having sex with another woman and they get into a fight, with Frank beating her up. Milton beats him up, knocks him out and steals the keys of his car, taking Piper along with him on a ride to Smithfalls. Meanwhile, a supernatural operative of Satan, The Accountant (William Fichtner) arrives on Earth with the mission to bring Milton back to Hell. After interrogating Frank, he discovers that Milton and Piper are heading to Louisiana and tricks the police into helping him by impersonating an FBI agent.
At a shady hotel, Milton and Piper are attacked by King and his men, who heard about his return, but manage to kill most of them. The Accountant appears with the police and chases after Milton and Piper, who are chasing after King's RV. Milton uses a gun labled "The Godkiller" to shoot the Accountant out of the road. They then follow King to a church, which they enter, only to be ambushed by King and captured. Piper is kidnapped and Milton is left for dead, but awakens and kills King's men before pursuing his RV once again. Inside, Piper breaks free and fights King before jumping out of the RV and onto Milton's car. King then shoots them down and escapes.