Nightjohn

Sarny arrives into the world on the Waller plantation, where a master's harsh priorities shape her early life. Her mother is sold a few years later, leaving Sarny in the care of Delie and the slave community. Her childhood is defined by fragile family bonds and the constant threat of separation.

As she reaches pre-teen years, Sarny is taken to the Big House to care for Homer, Clel Waller’s son who isn’t potty-trained yet. Delie remains the steady caregiver in the slave cabins, maintaining a fragile ties between worlds. The arrangement sets up the power dynamic that will define Sarny’s daily life.

A Sunday church service brings slaves and masters together, followed by a family lunch with guests including a doctor. Conversation circles around Outlaw’s plan to court Egypt, with Clel insisting that wealth and leverage matter more than love. The scene exposes how marriage and family are negotiated for profit on the plantation.

When Sarny accidentally drops a plate, Clel forces Callie to slap her, illustrating the brutality of slave discipline. Delie warns Sarny to behave, threatening hard labor in the fields if she missteps again. Sarny vows revenge as she endures the public humiliation.

Callie asks Sarny to carry a letter to the doctor, and on the way she sees slave trader Tom herding enslaved people toward the Waller property. At the doctor's house, the doctor asks Sarny to deliver a love letter to Callie and rewards her with a penny for the trouble. Back at the plantation, Tom contemplates selling a slave for a pittance, highlighting the commodification of people.

Clel buys John off of Tom for fifty dollars, bypassing the more valuable slave Tom showed him earlier. John and Sarny strike a secret bargain: she will learn to read in exchange for tobacco. John teaches her the alphabet, starting with A, planting the seed of literacy as a path to freedom.

Outlaw is whipped after sneaking out to see Egypt, despite Jeffrey’s attempt to intervene. Clel tells Jeffrey that slaves exist to pick his cotton, not to be his friends, underscoring the raw calculus of power on the plantation. The moment deepens Sarny’s understanding of who wields control and why.

During a party, Delie discovers John teaching Sarny to read and is outraged. John explains that his scars come from past escapes, including a failed attempt and a successful one to the North before returning to teach others. Delie forbids further lessons, warning that knowledge is dangerous and could put them all at risk.

Sarny devises a plan for Callie to visit the Doctor secretly, even swiping the Doctor’s alphabet blocks to help with learning. Old Man, a slave who once lost a finger for reading, warns of the consequences of defying the masters. John proclaims that words are freedom and that literacy could empower the enslaved.

John continues to teach numbers as Sarny reads the Bible and is baptized, marking a moment of spiritual and intellectual awakening. The act stirs tension among slaves who fear punishment for embracing literacy. The community’s debate over reading grows louder on the plantation.

Sarny admits stealing a Bible that Jeffrey was supposed to care for, triggering trouble with his father. She learns that God may be on the side of the enslaved, while many masters resist such revelations. The newly discovered readings also draw the attention of others who read a Nat Turner piece in the Gazette.

Sarny reads Clel’s record book during a party, while a plentiful harvest justifies a plantation feast. The moment shows literacy beginning to empower the enslaved, even as the walls of oppression remain intact. In the shadows, Outlaw and Egypt manage to finalize their marriage at the celebration.

Egypt’s pregnancy forces her to run away, and John forges Clel’s signature to help Outlaw escape with his wife. Jeffrey discovers the stolen Bible, and Delie takes the blame, risking punishment to protect her. Clel confronts John, ultimately chopping off John’s fingers as punishment before turning his focus back to the forged notes and control.

Sarny objects to the reveal that Clel has found two notes in his handwriting, proving that another slave can write and threatens the plantation’s secrecy. The Doctor tries to cover for the slaves, but the truth persists: Sarny’s knowledge makes her valuable and dangerous. Facing pressure, Clel ultimately sells Sarny, ending her immediate bondage but preserving Nightjohn's influence in the slaves' memory and in her narration.

In the final narration, Sarny explains that the story is about her and Nightjohn, and that a part of John lives in every slave. The act of teaching and reading remains a quiet rebellion against oppression. The movie closes with the hope that literacy and solidarity endure beyond the plantation walls.