Farmer Jan Alting, who has disowned his son for collaborating with the nazis, provides shelter for a Jewish couple, a wanted communist and a rebel aristocrat. When his son returns, Jan is faced with the stark moral choice of failing those to whom he has given refuge, or conspiring with them to kill his own son.

John Van Laer is the overseer of a vast rubber plantation in the Dutch East Indies. His new wife Renee joins him at the plantation, but the monotony of her existence and unbearable heat soon drive her to distraction. One of Van Laer's workmen takes advantage of the boss' absence to seduce Renee.