In 1963 South Africa, during the Apartheid era, the government, led by Hendrik Verwoerd, brutally suppressed resistance, leading to political unrest and violence. Eleanor, a young single mother working at Griggs Bookstore in Durban, is arrested and interrogated under the 90-day detention act due to her connection with Red Ronnie Kasrils, a "terrorist" wanted for sabotage. Eleanor, a clandestine agent for the Underground ANC, decides to fake a nervous breakdown to be transferred to a psychiatric institution, from where she plans to escape.