In a monastery perched in the mountains of Algeria eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers, but, when a crew of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamic fundamentalist group, fear sweeps the region. The army offers them protection, but the monks refuse and a battle of wills ensues regarding whether to stay or flee. While low on laughs, or levity of any kind for that matter, this brilliant and provocative drama is based on the life of the Cistercian monks of Tibhirine from 1993 to 1996.