A Norwegian merchant seaman becomes caught up in the Second World War after his vessel is pressed into Allied service, forcing him into years of dangerous Atlantic crossings far from his family in Bergen. The film follows his struggle to survive the brutal conditions of wartime seafaring whilst his wife and children endure the hardships of German occupation back home. Their prolonged separation leaves deep psychological scars, and the film explores how war inflicts lasting damage on ordinary people long after the fighting has ended.