When a young Amish boy inadvertently witnesses a brutal murder while en route to Philadelphia with his recently widowed mother, Rachel (McGillis), Detective John Book (Ford) is assigned to the case. With the perpetrators desperate to silence the sole witness, Book and his two wards are forced to hide out in the heart of the Amish community. As passions between Book and Rachel ignite, the killers close in, culminating in a dramatic, life-and-death clash of cultures that while change the lives of those involved forever.