Paul, a battle weary war photographer, returns to his remote New Zealand hometown, when his father dies, and faces the past he left behind. To his surprise, he also finds the sixteen year old Celia, the daughter of his first girlfriend, who hungers for the world beyond her small-town. She may be his own sister from the clues Paul finds around his father's den. But many, including the members of both their families, frown upon the friendship and when Celia goes missing, Paul becomes increasingly persecuted as the prime suspect in her disappearance. As the violent and urgent truth gradually emerges, Paul is forced to confront the family tragedy and betrayal he ran from as a youth, and to face the consequences of silence and secrecy that has surrounded his entire adult life.