The year is 1755. Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen), an illegitimate former soldier, sets out to conquer the barren and harsh moors with one goal in mind - to establish a colony there on behalf of the king, in exchange for the nobility promised by the Danish ruler. Standing in his way is the ruthless and contemptuous nobleman Frederik de Schinkel, who does not intend to give up the land, considering it his own. When Kahlen hires two servants, Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin) and her husband, who escaped from the de Schinkel court, to help him, he is ready to act of the greatest cruelty, the nobleman swears revenge.