

The film is set in 1893 on Kauaʻi, after the overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. As an outbreak of leprosy engulfs the island, the new government orders all Native Hawaiians suspected of having the disease banished permanently to the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony on the island of Molokaʻi that is known as 'the island of the living grave'. When a local cowboy named Koʻolau (Jason Scott Lee) and his young son Kalei (Kahiau Perreira) contract the disease, they refuse to allow their family to be separated, sparking an armed clash with the white island authorities.