Plot

In the extravagant whaling city of 1850s New Bedford, MA, one family is conflicted and divided by the treatment of African Americans during the height of slavery in pre-civil war America. William M. Thomas, a medical surgeon, is a man of questionable faith and principles, until he hears the audible voice of God. The near death experience and commanding voice of The Almighty shakes William to his spiritual core. What begins as a righteous quest for American freedom and human redemption, ultimately transforms the traveling doctor into the most notorious abolitionist of Ante-Bellum America. His wife, the most affluent and powerful woman in the New World, covers her husbands tracks, until one day he goes too far. Now all are left to choose between life or death; security or sacrifice; passivity or justice; faith or fear.—Xavier Garcia

The distant sound of crashing waves and a bright moon seeping through the cracks of a worn, well-used barn in 1851 New Bedford, MA, reveals two men working tirelessly in the middle of the night. The white man, William, is directing his black ex-slave counterpart Abraham, a freedman, as they frantically and quietly rearrange shipping parts in order to redesign the space for an obviously dangerous and secretive purpose.

William reveals that they are to build a trap door. As they rearrange and position the materials to suit their secretive goal, something strange happens. A forgotten rocking horse is unveiled leaving William in an eternal trance. The toy must have belonged to a young child, causing clear discomfort and solemness in William's tired gaze and revealing even more mystery behind this protagonist and his motives.

The scene shifts as William dismisses Abraham from the barn. William's wife, Margaret, appears in quiet frustration from the shadows. The couple quarrel as it becomes clear that Margaret is outraged with the actions of her husband. Through their combative exchange, his motives are revealed: William and Abraham are creating a safe house for escaped slaves on the treacherous Underground Railroad.

Margaret is not shy about her anger and fear; that her husband would be so willing to endanger his own family's lives in order to save those of "negro" strangers. However, William's motivation is revealed when he tells his wife he is doing this as a result of hearing the clear, audible voice of God; his conviction and purpose is obvious and enough to drive this dangerous task forward.

Jaded by the very recent death of her toddler, Margaret wounds her husband with the reminder that he was the cause of his own son's untimely death. It is clear that Margaret is not motivated by society's political, social or cultural concerns, but by the overwhelming desire to protect what's left of her crumbling family.

The scene shifts again as Abraham re-enters the barn, having completed the task that he was sent to do. Behind him are five very young slave children. They're cold, wet, hungry and one is the same age as her own late son. Margaret's motivation as a mother and William's motivation as those lead by God, ultimately come crashing into one another as they're all shifted to choosing sacrifice over safety and harboring the escaped slave children.