Handlung

1851, Manitoba's Red River Valley. As winter sets in, a young woman on the edge of madness arrives exhausted at the fort, a wilderness station, claiming she murdered her husband. She's placed in a cell; for the next several months, she sews while the local prefect, Henry Mullen, investigates. In flashbacks we see her arranged marriage to the hard-working but angry Simon, who takes her to his half-built homestead and abuses her. She's treated well by his younger brother George, with whom she laughs, but he's too weak to protect her. Is she guilty? At the homestead, Mullen hears a different story, one that exonerates Annie. Can he unearth the truth? Then what?—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Annie Herron is abused by her husband, Simon, whilst his brother, George, was seemingly helpless to intervene. The film hits an interesting twist when Simon is murdered. Annie is convinced that she is the murderer, even as she gets herself admitted to the gaol in the Fort.

In 1851, Annie is living in an orphanage and is put into an arranged marriage to Simon, who takes her to a homestead which is still being built. He puts her to work cooking and cleaning for him and his brother, George. At night, Simon expects Annie to submit to his rough sexual advances, even raping her several times. George tries to talk to Simon about treating Annie better, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Simon becomes ever more brutal towards Annie, even beating her while he's in a drunken rage.

Meanwhile, George himself is interested in pursuing Annie, which puts her into emotional turmoil. Simon's murder culminates these events, with Annie being locked up in the gaol, while a Detective, Henry Mullen, investigates.

Through flashbacks, we learn that George, distraught from witnessing how his brother treated Annie, kills Simon by hitting him in the back with an axe. He brings Simon's body back to the homestead, telling Annie that a tree branch had fallen on him. Annie, by this time, had been driven mad from the beatings and rapes Simon had forced upon her. She hits Simon posthumously on the head with a rock. She and George consummate their feelings. Days later, as Annie spirals into madness she admits herself to the gaol, while George has fled the homestead to stay with a neighboring family.

Annie finds out while in the gaol that she is pregnant, but is not certain whether the father is Simon or George. She declares the baby girl as being Simon's child, so that the child will always be welcome and cared for in later life. George marries the neighboring family's daughter, Jenny.