In a nameless totalitarian nation teeming with social unrest, a clergyman (Alec Guiness) is jailed on a trumped-up charge of treason. A government worker (Jack Hawkins) interrogates the inmate, eventually, goading the priest into admitting several crimes. After his confessions are made public, the clergyman has a no-win fate: either continue to live an oppressive routine behind bars or, if released, face a public hungry for revenge. Guiness and Hawkins are electrifying in this controversial, psychological drama, which was based on a stage play.