Reshna, a student in the Netherlands, visits her sick father in Suriname. When her family tells her what made her father ill and that it has to do with his past on plantation Mariënburg, she sets out to investigate. She finds out more and more and through flashbacks, the 1902 uprising is shown. Poor Hindustani and Javanese farmers were put to work on the plantation but were very poorly paid, and after a new Scottish director took office for the NHM (Dutch Trading Company) who abused and intimidated the farmers' wives, a decision to strike was made in July 1902. After the society used violence that left dozens dead, rebellion broke out.
