During the Civil War, at a remote all-girls boarding school in Virginia, the mundane rhythm of life is interrupted by the discovery of a wounded Union soldier. The young Amy, while foraging in the woods, finds the soldier and helps him back to the school. The presence of the soldier instantly disrupts the secluded existence of the women and girls at the academy. The headmistress, wary but compassionate, decides to shelter and nurse the enemy soldier back to health, invoking a sense of cautious curiosity among the students and teachers. As he gradually recovers, his presence ignites a flurry of excitement, jealousy, and taboo attractions within the walls of the school.

The soldier's stay brings to the surface the underlying tensions among the school's residents, as each individual, including the headmistress, a teacher, and a teenaged student, deals with their own burgeoning feelings and desires. The interactions between the soldier and the women evolve from cordial hospitality to complicated dynamics of power, seduction, and betrayal. As alliances form and rivalries fester, the once-calm atmosphere becomes charged with suspicion and competition, revealing the fragility of their secluded world. Without revealing the ensuing consequences, it's clear that the soldier’s arrival becomes a catalyst for unexpected revelations and transformations, challenging the residents' perceptions of themselves and each other, ultimately testing the limits of their isolation and the bonds of their makeshift family.