Set in 1846 on a remote island off the west coast of Scotland, a heavy storm causes a merchant ship to sink. The film opens with its three survivors rowing through a think early morning mist, lost and disorientated. The find an island with four sole residents, an old harbor man, a farmer, his niece, and a young mad woman. The people are reluctant to help the sailors back to the mainland. Once rested, the three men are desperate to return home, but the promised boat never appears.