故事发生在十八世纪末，丹麦农奴制末期的一座庄园。寡妇安妮·玛丽的儿子被怀疑纵火烧毁了谷仓。倘若庄园主将他移交当局，便意味着无期限的监禁或兵役。庄园主人同意释放男孩，但有一个条件：若玛丽能完成三个人一天的工作，或者一个人三天的工作，在一天日出至日落之间收割完一片黑麦田，她的儿子便可获得自由。

The year is 1943. Denmark is largely under German occupation. In Aarhus, a group of young men have decided to resort to drastic measures to fight against the overwhelming odds.

A mysterious stranger, Meisner, arrives in a northern Swedish town in 1820, calling himself a magnetist - an amalgam of hypnotist and healer - and claiming he can cure diseases un-treatable by doctors. Ignoring the objections of his colleagues, Dr. Selander allows Meisner to cure his blind daughter, Maria, who not only regains her sight, but also falls in love with the charismatic magnetist. Dark secrets and repressed memories start to emerge, amidst the love between father and daughter, man and woman.