Recreation of the landmark 1958 South Australian Court trial of young aboriginal Max Stuart. Australia, 1958. When a nine-year-old white girl is found murdered, police are quick to arrest an illiterate indigenous man, Max Stuart. Under interrogation, Max admits to the killing and signs a statement that will send him to the gallows. With no Court of Appeal established in the country and a legal system compromised by intimidation tactics and the stain of institutional racism, the skills of his two gifted but naive defence lawyers are tested. Based on a true story