Flint Lockwood thinks he's a genius. But none of his inventions make sense or are useful. However, he has the support of his mother, but when she dies, he is left alone with his father, who thinks he should give it up. When the community he lives in faces an economic crisis because its primary source of income, a sardine cannery, has been shut down, Flint decides to try his latest invention: a machine that can turn water into food. But something goes wrong and the machine ends up in the atmosphere. Later, it starts raining food. The shifty mayor tries to use this to help the community, but when Flint senses something is wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. However, as Flint predicts, chaos ensues.