An ophthalmologist's confession gets interrupted when the priest who was attending him leaves in an emergency. On his way to his office, he is fatally run over by a car, and his immortal soul is thrown into a purgatory populated by grotesque creatures.

The year 1615. Lazarus is a seasoned veteran harpooner on the whaling grounds of Newfoundland who 5 years earlier lost his brother in the Icelandic seas and still blames himself for his death. When he returns to the Westfjords to find his brother's love, Sunna, he also finds his 4-year-old daughter, Elin; his niece... When Sunna reveals to him that the fishing licenses are forged and that an edict from the King allows all his property to be seized, events unfold.