Jean-Baptiste and Magdaleine are a married couple who work on a sugar cane plantation in Dominican Republic. When their baby dies from hunger, they start to reflect on the future. Magdaleine cannot bear that life any longer and starts thinking about returning to Haiti. She is filled with nostalgia for her homeland, even though her family and that of her husband were murdered by the illegal militias terrorizing the country. Jean-Baptiste, however, still hopes to build a better life for himself and his wife within the Dominican Republic, perhaps by finding a new job. The attempted rape of Magdaleine by one of the plantation guards forces their hand. With the help of a militant doctor, Ernesto, the two manage to escape, taking with them Pierre, a 14-year-old cane cutter who is infatuated with Magdaleine. The group make their way across the Dominican Republic, trying to forget the life of misery, bleakness and injustice they have known so far - a life which appears all the more shocking when contrasted with that of the wealthy foreign tourists flooding the island, passing their holidays in a parallel, carefree world of sun and tropical beaches.