In 1813, after serving eight years of a life sentence in the penal colony of New South Wales, convict Will Thornhill and his wife Sal stake a claim of land on the remote and beautiful Hawkesbury River. But Sal develops a life-threatening illness and misunderstandings with the local Indigenous people overshadow their new life.

Will’s increasing desperation to hold onto ‘his’ land despite the resistance of the local Indigenous people, leads to conflict with Sal, who wants to leave their Hawkesbury settlement. Driven by the fear of losing everything he has worked for, Will is drawn into a brutal incident which will haunt him forever.