During a cricket match at a lunatic asylum a couple (John Hurt and Susannah York) are told a story by one of the patients (Alan Bates). He tells of the time he spent in Australia and of the special, devastating gift the aborigines taught him. The couple allow him to move in with them where he begins a passionate affair with the wife. The husband is only interested in learning 'the shout' himself so he can use it in his music, even though it has the power to kill.