<P> At a rite of passage for all graduating students of Ember City School, Mayor Cole stands before the students as they choose their adult occupations by lottery . Doon Harrow, the son of inventor and repairman Loris Harrow, is assigned "Messenger", while his classmate Lina Mayfleet is assigned "Pipeworks Laborer" and apprenticed to elderly technician Sul . Shortly afterwards, the two secretly exchange assignments . At home, Lina (a descendant of the seventh mayor) finds the opened box and enlists Doon's help to decipher its contents . Gradually, they learn that it contains a set of instructions and directions for an exit from the city . Later, they also discover that Mayor Cole has been hoarding canned food in a secret vault for his own benefit while the people go hungry . After Lina attempts to report this, the mayor captures her and tries to steal the metal box, but she escapes during a blackout . Now fugitives from the mayor's police, Lina and Doon, accompanied by Lina's little sister, Poppy, use the instructions and assistance from Sul to flee the city via a subterranean river . Meanwhile, the Mayor turns against his accomplice, Looper, and locks himself in his vault, only to be devoured by a gigantic star - nosed mole (which Lina and Doon encountered earlier). Lina, Doon, and Poppy eventually reach the Earth's surface, where, for the first time in their lives, they witness a sunrise . The movie ends as Lina and Doon tie a message to a rock and drop it from far above it into the city − where it is found by Loris . </P> <Ul> <Li> Saoirse Ronan as Lina Mayfleet </Li> <Li> Bill Murray as Mayor Cole, the current Mayor of the City of Ember and the main antagonist in the story </Li> <Li> Harry Treadaway as Doon Harrow </Li> <Li> Toby Jones as Barton Snode, the assistant to Mayor Cole </Li> <Li> Martin Landau as Sul, a technician in the Pipeworks who is Doon's mentor (and a character not found in the book) </Li> <Li> Tim Robbins as Loris "Barrow" Harrow, Doon's father </Li> <Li> Marianne Jean - Baptiste as Clary Lane, a greenhouse worker </Li> <Li> Liz Smith as Granny Mayfleet </Li> <Li> Amy Quinn and Catherine Quinn as Poppy Mayfleet </Li> <Li> Mary Kay Place as Mrs. Murdo </Li> <Li> Mackenzie Crook as Looper, keeper of the storerooms and Lizzie's "boyfriend" </Li> <Li> Lucinda Dryzek as Lizzie Bisco, Lina's best friend </Li> <Li> Matt Jessup as Joss, a classmate of Lina and Doon </Li> <Li> Simon Kunz as Captain Fleery, Lina's boss </Li> <Li> Ian McElhinney as a Builder </Li> </Ul> <Li> Saoirse Ronan as Lina Mayfleet </Li> <Li> Bill Murray as Mayor Cole, the current Mayor of the City of Ember and the main antagonist in the story </Li>

Who plays lina mayfleet in the city of ember