Stephen Kumalo, a black South African minister searches the unfamiliar back alleys and shanty towns of Johannesburg for his son, Absalom. But Kumalo's unwavering faith is put to the test when he finds Absalom in jail facing a capital murder charge. Courage, dignity and sacrifice fall prey to the whirlwind of racist hypocrisy and hollow justice in Absalom's trial. Absalom's reunion and reconciliation with this father, his jailhouse marriage to his pregnant sweetheart, and his heroic determination to tell the truth set the stage for a tragic climax.