The movie begins by following a mysterious woman named Elise (Jolie) who is walking around Paris while being trailed by a number of men who work for Scotland Yard. She sits down at a cafe and receives a letter from Alexander Pearce, a former lover of hers, with explicit directions to board a train to Venice, Italy and pick out a man who resembles him and make the police believe that that man is Alexander Pearce. A mysterious man, not involved with the police, seems to be watching Elise. Elise burns the letter, follows her directions and boards a train, cleverly avoiding the police.
