In the mid-1800s, Ada McGrath, a Scottish woman with
elective mutism, travels to colonial New Zealand with her daughter Flora for an arranged marriage to settler Alisdair Stewart. Ada has not spoken since the age of six, and the reason for this as well as the identity of Flora's father remain unknown. She communicates through playing the piano and sign language, with Flora acting as her interpreter. Ada and Flora, along with their handcrafted piano, are stranded on a New Zealand beach by a ship's crew. The next day, Alisdair arrives with his
Māori crew and neighbour George Baines, a retired sailor who has adapted to Māori customs, including
facial tattoos. Alisdair tells Ada that they do not have enough bearers for the piano and then refuses to go back for it, claiming that they all need to make sacrifices. Desperate to retrieve her piano, Ada seeks George's help. While at first refusing, he appears to give in due to her keenness on recovering the piano. Once at the beach, he is entranced by her music and appears charmed by her happy ways when she is playing, in contrast to her stern behaviour when on the farm. George offers Alisdair the land he has been coveting in exchange for the piano and lessons from Ada. Alisdair agrees, oblivious to George's attraction to Ada. Ada is enraged by George's proposition but agrees to trade lessons for piano keys. She restricts the lessons to the black keys only and resists George's demands for more intimacy. Ada continues to rebuff Alisdair's advances while exploring her sensuality with George. George eventually realizes that Ada will never commit to him emotionally and returns the piano to her, confessing that he wants Ada to care for him genuinely. Although Ada has her piano back, she longs for George and returns to him. Alisdair overhears them having sex and watches them through a crack in the wall. Furious, he confronts Ada and tries to force himself on her despite her strong resistance. He then coerces Ada into promising she will no longer see George. Shortly after, Ada instructs Flora to deliver a package to George, which contains a piano key with a love declaration engraved on it. Flora delivers it to Alisdair instead. Enraged after reading the message, Alisdair cuts off Ada's index finger, depriving her of the ability to play the piano. He sends Flora to George with the severed finger, warning him to stay away from Ada or he will chop off more fingers. Later, while touching Ada as she sleeps, Alisdair hears what he thinks is her voice in his head, asking him to let George take her away. He goes to George's house and asks if Ada has ever spoken to him, but George says no. George and Ada leave together with her belongings and piano tied onto a Māori
canoe. As they row to the ship, Ada asks George to throw the piano overboard. She allows her leg to be caught by the rope attached to the piano and is dragged underwater with it in an attempt to drown herself. As she sinks, she appears to change her mind and struggles free before being pulled to safety. In the
epilogue, Ada describes her new life with George and Flora in
Nelson, where she gives piano lessons in their new home. George has made her a metal finger to replace the one she lost, and Ada has been practicing and taking speech lessons. She sometimes dreams of the piano resting at the bottom of the ocean with her still tethered to it. ==Cast==