Giving up his faith in God, father Merrin (Stellan Skarsgaard) joins a team of English archaeologists and with their help discovers a Byzantine church in Kenya. The church poses an intriguing mystery since it seems to have been buried in the exact day in which it was built. But beyond this church, lies something far more dangerous, waiting to be discovered. While madness creeps in the hearts of local villagers and English soldiers, a whole series of inexplicable atrocities occur. As father Merrin finds himself helpless before their power, he will eventually come face to face to the source of all evil.