Desperate to feed his wife, Elfrida (Ewa Fröling), and their baby daughter, starving laborer Helge Roos (Stellan Skarsgard) kills an ox belonging to his employer, wealthy farmer Svenning Gustafsson (Liv Ullmann). Helge is caught and jailed, making life even harder for Elfrida and her child. Without the assistance of the fearsome local vicar (Max von Sydow) and Gustafsson's wife (Bjorn Granath), the town's primary charitable benefactor, she must turn to other means to survive.