A young American mathematics professor, David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), and his young wife, Amy (Susan George), move a village in her native Cornwall after becoming disillusioned and tired of the anti-war movement back in the States. Engrossed in his work, David finds he has little time for Amy who begins to seek attention from men in the local village, including her former lover. Never accepted as part of the village, and taunted and harassed mercilessly by the local villagers, David and Amy's ideal life is put to the test. For beneath the seemingly peaceful isolation of the pastoral village lies a savagery and violence that threatens to destroy the couple, culminating in a brutal test of Sumner’s manhood and a fight to the death against the local mob.