A young man in 1981 South Africa must complete his brutal and racist two years of compulsory military service while desperately maintaining the secrecy of his homosexuality.

David is a successful city trader in London who is relentlessly focused on work. Beneath the confident facade, he is trapped by memories of the past and hostile to anyone who dares to help. Flashbacks reveal a childhood in South Africa at the mercy of an inadequate bully of a father Donald and an ineffectual mother Joanne. The physical and sexual abuse he suffered threatens any chance of happiness he might have now.