Karl Oskar Nilsson (Max von Sydow) and his wife, Kristina (Liv Ullmann), work a farm in a cold and desolate area of rural Sweden in the middle of the 19th century. The growing privations of their life, combined with increasing social and religious persecution, cause the Nilssons and many of their neighbors to strike out for the United States. Following a treacherous ocean crossing and an equally grueling land passage, the emigrants find themselves in the seemingly idyllic land of Minnesota.