Inspired in "Os Sertões" by Euclides da Cunha, this film tells the saga of the last survivors of the Canudos war.

At the end of the 19th century, a poor family comes to the rural Canudos, a community led by Antônio Conselheiro, seen by many as a holy prophet. Their ways bother the powerful people of the region, and the newly founded Republic sends their army to destroy the settlement, which culminates in one of the bloodiest wars in the history of Brazil.