Following the end of the liberation struggle against British Colonial Rule in Cyprus, an EOKA rebel fighter travels to London to exact revenge on the collaborator who betrayed him and applied water torture. The film contains the first ever scenes of water-boarding showing the rebel being tortured supervised by a British intelligence officer. A dramatic search through the streets of London follows, culminating in a tense life or death confrontation. The film became a cause-célèbre in England, was critically acclaimed and discussed in the Houses of Parliament.

John Sawyer, once an eminent barrister, has slid into a life of cynicism and drunkenness since his wife left him. When his daughter's boyfriend is accused of murder, Sawyer decides to try to pull himself together and defend him in court.