In a cabin on a Virginia plantation, an enslaved woman named Suzie begs a young enslaved man named Henri to impregnate her as their “master” has ordered. Henri finds himself physically unable to comply. When their “master” enters and witnesses Henri’s failure, he strikes him and declares that he will be sold the next day to Magnolia Row, a brutal plantation owned by Montgomery Ragland in Goochland, Virginia. He warns Suzie that she will also be sold if she doesn’t find someone to impregnate her.

As Henri is taken away in a wagon, he recalls his capture in Africa: his village burning, his mother murdered by enslavers, and his own enslavement. During the “Middle Passage,” his forced transportation across the Atlantic, he heard stories of rebellions, particularly in Haiti. Fire has become the only thing he feels he can trust.

At Magnolia Row, Ragland warns Henri that disobedience will lead to death. Ruby, a “house slave,” and Josephine, a young silent girl whom Ruby has raised since the girl’s mother died in childbirth, escort Henri to his quarters, a filthy hut shared by 10 people. Ruby explains that she lives behind the “big house” because her mother worked there before being “sold.” As they walk, Ruby mutters defiant insults about Ragland, shocking Henri.

Henri is forced to work in the cotton fields. Two enslaved men, Solomon and David, question him. That night, Henri kills a snake that comes near his face; Solomon, watching, is impressed.

The next day, Henri attends a Sabbath service but leaves, finding no comfort in the preaching. Outside, Ruby introduces him to Luke, a well-dressed young enslaved man who serves as personal attendant to Ragland’s son Junior. Henri sees Luke teaching Josephine numbers by drawing in the dirt, telling her that some things, such as learning, cannot be stolen from her. Ruby explains that Luke is literate and warns Henri not to cause trouble.

Sometime later, Henri is summoned to the big house. He meets Junior, who is preparing to leave for New York City. After Junior departs, Ragland questions Henri about the recent self-emancipation of David and Solomon from the plantation. Henri denies knowledge.

Henri is assigned to help Luke clean Junior’s room. While working, Luke asks about Africa, and Henri shares painful memories of his family and village. Luke reveals that Ragland sexually abuses Ruby and that Junior sexually abuses him, sometimes chaining him to the bed at night. Luke comforts Henri, and a bond forms. Luke reveals that his birthday is August 21 and declares that it will be Henri’s birthday too since Henri doesn’t know his own.

Luke visits his dying mother, Miss Emily, in a dilapidated shack. She is emaciated and covered in tumors. She reveals that a doctor suggested she be shot, but she refused to let Ragland take her life. Miss Emily recalls her husband, Luke’s father, who died by suicide to avoid being sold. Before he died, he told the young Luke that some things cannot be taken away. She also recalls surviving repeated sexual violence and having eight children taken from her, with Luke being the only child she was allowed to keep.

Ruby petitions Ragland to move Henri from field work into housework, arguing that they need help now that the self-emancipated have left. Ragland grants the reassignment but uses this to coerce Ruby sexually.

Henri works in the big house, and he and Luke sometimes visit Miss Emily together; she grows fond of Henri and asks to hear about Africa. Luke and Henri begin a secret romantic and sexual relationship at the river, returning repeatedly. They worry about Junior’s impending return.

Solomon is captured, and Ragland drags him before the plantation community. Demanding to know where David is, Ragland cuts off Solomon’s big toe. When Solomon claims not to know, Ragland destroys one of Solomon’s eyes as a warning to all. Luke and Henri carry Solomon to a back shack, where Ruby and Josephine treat his wounds. Solomon returns to forced labor with lasting injuries, and Magnolia Row becomes more subdued.

Junior returns in early July, openly contemptuous and immediately issuing orders. He forces Luke into sexual acts during a bath; Ruby and Josephine glimpse the aftermath of this as Luke exits.

Ruby has a miscarriage. A doctor comments on internal damage that she has sustained, and Mistress Kitty, Junior’s mother, orders Henri and Luke to clean Ruby while Josephine must cook temporarily. Ruby admits that she intentionally triggered the miscarriage with castor oil to avoid carrying another pregnancy by Ragland.

Henri confronts Luke about Junior’s abuse and urges self-emancipation, arguing that Luke’s literacy could help them forge travel passes. Luke is reluctant, citing the treatment of Solomon and his own inexperience beyond the plantation. However, he trusts Henri and knows that if he ever seeks freedom, it will be with him.

Luke secures permission to spend the night with his mother. He quietly gathers food, clothes, water, and light, instructing Henri to meet him secretly by her shack. In extreme pain, Miss Emily tells Luke to run but pleads not to be left to die in agony, intimating that she wants him to end her life. With Henri praying, Luke uses a blade to cut Miss Emily’s throat. Her suffering now over, he covers her body with a clean sheet. Solomon finds them, recognizes their self-emancipation plan, and advises a safer route avoiding rivers and using land markers. He sends them off with a blessing.

While seeking freedom, Luke and Henri imagine their futures after enslavement. Luke talks about acting and recites a line from William Shakespeare, prompting Henri’s rare laughter. As daylight nears, they lose their bearings. Hounds close in, and captors overpower them, shackling them for return to the plantation.

Back at Magnolia Row, Ragland assembles everyone. He reveals that he found Miss Emily’s body, accuses Luke or Henri of killing her, and states that he threw her body into the bushes to be scavenged. As punishment, he cuts off part of Luke’s ear, after which Ruby is ordered to treat the bleeding. He then has Henri restrained and castrates him. Junior and Mistress Kitty watch and encourage the violence. Luke is forced to witness the mutilation.

Luke and Henri are placed in Miss Emily’s shack to heal. Solomon smuggles food in, and Ruby and Josephine clean and dress their wounds daily. While recovering, they embrace their shared August 21 birthday and plan a retaliatory attack tied to that date, when they intend to set a fire.

On August 21, after midnight, Luke and Henri slip into the big house carrying a broadax. They murder Junior in bed and mutilate his body. Mistress Kitty catches them, and they attack and kill her. Ragland arrives with a shotgun and shoots Henri twice. Luke overpowers Ragland, maims him with the broadax, and then blinds and kills him by crushing his eyes with his thumbs.

Mortally wounded, Henri dies on the front porch after urging Luke to burn the plantation like his village and Haiti burned. Ruby commits to burning the house with Luke and insists on bringing Josephine, declaring that the girl needs to see the rebellion firsthand. Luke and Ruby ignite the big house using stolen kerosene and matches, setting multiple points of fire. As the flames consume the structure, Josephine watches and declares that they will be remembered, her first utterance. Luke carries Henri’s body outside and publicly explains his mother’s death as a “mercy killing.” He calls on the others to either join the uprising or leave immediately to survive.

The fire spreads across Magnolia Row, consuming fields and structures. The enslaved community disperses before sunrise, with some people successfully leaving the estate, while others are captured and re-enslaved. Reports of Magnolia Row’s destruction spread widely, frightening enslavers across the South and signaling a broader reckoning beyond the plantation.