As a small village reels from the brutal murder of a young girl, their earnest new vicar - Christopher - provides comfort and guidance, counselling against vengeance. He visits the murderer - Isaac, the girl’s father - who has grown feral in jail, tormented by the idea of what he has done. Christopher forces Isaac to confront the events of the night of the murder and urges him to confess before he is executed, for the sake of the village and himself. Christopher continues to shepherd the village through the aftermath of the tragedy, and he grows closer to Rachel: Isaac’s distraught wife. Sick with grief and distress as Isaac’s execution approaches, Rachel returns home and Christopher vows to join her for support. At the same time as Isaac is brought to be hanged, Christopher tries to convince Rachel of Isaac’s guilt and leads her to make some disturbing discoveries about the truth of her daughter’s murder.