The documentary deals with the delicate topic of the present-day slave trade between families on a remote Sumba island in Indonesia, where local beliefs demand that those born into the Ata caste must serve their Maramba masters of royal blood. When a master dies, their servants are buried with them. Age-old traditions of the South-East Asian slave trade are exploited by contemporary human traffickers,
who mainly target women and children of Ata origin. Following the challenging pursuits of Jeremy Kewuan, an Indonesian activist fighting against slavery for over a decade, we dive deep into the complexity of the local culture, in which some people have basic rights and others simply don’t. Jeremy makes close contact with both the victims and the enablers of human trafficking, unraveling the moral landscape that justifies the torture of women and children.

Witnessing mental and physical abuse across generations, it seems almost impossible for Jeremy to evoke a change, only to realize that even in his own life, he is stuck in that same pattern of tradition. His girlfriend is unable to marry Jeremy due to an unfulfilled dowry payment that hangs over his head. Trapped by cultural principles on both ends, Jeremy victimizes his girlfriend through his activist ideals.
To end slavery, structural support is needed, Jeremy realizes. Although he achieves some breakthroughs, the mere size and complexity of the problem require more than his video-activism.

While painting a vivid picture of social hierarchies on a remote tropical island following the story of one family, the film raises universal questions on hierarchies based on unchosen conditions such as race, class or caste. Through Jeremy we also draw attention to the often painful and unrealized juxtapositions between the personal and the political in pursuits of changing the world.