Port of Alicante, 28 March 1939. The Captain of the Stanbrook, Archibald Dickson, and his crew await the arrival of a shipment. The end of the Spanish Civil war nears and chaos takes over the city. Thousands of people huddle at the harbor waiting for the arrival of boats hired by the Republic to leave the country. One of them is Joan, who, after losing his wife in the battle front, goes to the harbor with his eight-year-old daughter, Maria. But the boats will not come.