An action-adventure, coming-of-age film, set in the Maori - Colonial wars of the 1860s. On the run, a half-caste, traumatized boy-soldier, Haki, 15, is captured by Maori resistance forces preparing a last desperate stand against the might of the British Imperial Army. Held as a sacrifice, Haki's life is forfeit until he befriends and is saved by Kopu, a teenage girl who is a reluctant medium for a war god.