A man appears to a female reporter and claims he is the famous kidnapper that has the world astir and promises to turn himself in if she listens to his story. Though she is suspicious of him, she starts to fall more and more into his story.

Amanda and Julian are doing their best to rear their five sons during the repressive dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. Though the parents view themselves as apolitical, most of their sons bristle at life under martial law and turn to various forms of activism -- or to simple teenage rebellion -- for release. After the family becomes the victim of extremist violence, Amanda begins to find her own dissident voice.