Joe Connor, Hugh Dancy, is a patient teacher at the École Technique Officielle outside Kigali, a small outpost run by John Hurt as Father Christopher and guarded by a unit under Captain Delon, Dominique Horwitz. The school, already home to a mix of refugees and a few European arrivals, becomes a fragile sanctuary as whispers of looming violence spread: lists of Tutsi families are drawn up, reports of mobs terrorize other parts of the country, and a wary eye is kept on a UN mandate that seems ill-suited to stop what might come. In this tense atmosphere, Joe grows particularly close to a local girl, Marie, a bond that ties him emotionally to the school’s fragile community.
On the night of 6 April 1994, the mood shifts from fragile calm to imminent danger: distant explosions and gunfire ring out, and Delon orders the perimeter fortified, turning the school into a makeshift fortress. Refugees arrive at the gates, and despite Delon’s protests, Father Christopher insists they must be allowed in. The next morning, Joe drives to Marie’s house to fetch her, only to find the place empty except for a dog; Marie herself later slips in through the rear entrance, while the front remains blocked by a Hutu mob. The refugees begin organizing under Roland’s leadership, and a small group of European refugees is granted better quarters, much to Christopher’s frustration. Joe throws himself into helping the new arrivals, balancing his duties as a teacher with the urgent demands of crisis relief.
As the mob closes in, Joe believes the refugees’ plight should be broadcast to the world. He asks Captain Delon for help in bringing in Rachel, a BBC journalist, Nicola Walker, hoping that television coverage might force outside attention and relief. Delon is initially cooperative, but his stance hardens after news reaches him that the Belgian troops guarding the Prime Minister Uwilingiyimana have been massacred. Joe resolves to press on anyway and enlists his Hutu friend François, David Gyasi, to escort him, though François is not at home when Joe first goes to fetch him. He eventually finds Rachel and her cameraman and persuades them to come to the school by insinuating that there are Europeans inside. On the return trip, they are stopped at a roadblock and dragged from their vehicle at gunpoint. Rachel negotiates, but the scene is brutal: Joe witnesses a Tutsi man hacked to death with machetes, and François is seen among the mob, brandishing a bloody blade. François arranges for the journalists to pass, but the moment leaves a growing rift in Joe’s perception of “neutral” reporting. Rachel later reflects with him on the dispassion she sees in journalists who cover such atrocities, drawing on her Bosnia experience to frame the violence as something more than a distant news item.
During a tense interview with Delon, Rachel questions why his troops do not intervene to stop the killings and challenges the UN mandate. Delon maintains his position, invoking the limits of his mandate and the need for political backing to allow intervention. He does, however, request a mandate change, but receives no relief. In the midst of this, Father Christopher becomes personally touched by the refugees’ plight: he helps deliver the baby of Edda, one of the refugees, and the infant’s name becomes a source of small solace for him. Later, Christopher seeks medicine for the infant and visits a nearby convent believed to have been attacked. He pays a bribe to obtain the medicine and lies that the child is Hutu to secure help. When he returns to the school, he finds the nuns at the convent killed, and the spent hurdlers he had lent out for use by the roadblock are being repurposed as part of the barricades. The sight underscores the cruelty of the unfolding chaos and the moral compromises forced upon those inside the compound.
French troops arrive, but they say they are there only for French refugees. Delon’s temper flares, yet he finally agrees to evacuate all Europeans. Joe tries to negotiate for Marie to take his place on the trucks, but Delon rebuffs him. Rachel departs with the French, urging Joe to leave as well. A group of refugees, including Edda, attempts a rear escape but is ambushed by the mob; most are killed, and the brave attempt ends in tragedy when Edda and her baby are spotted and slain. Delon then orders a withdrawal; the Belgians prepare to depart, but Roland pleads for Delon to shoot the refugees to spare them a more prolonged massacre. Delon refuses, and Joe, unable to bear the situation any longer, leaves with Delon, leaving Marie behind. As Joe boards the truck, he can only whisper to Marie, “I’m sorry.” Christopher chooses to stay behind, but he realizes he can smuggle a small group of children out in the back of the school truck. He takes Marie and a few others, intending to return for more, but the moment he leaves, the mob attacks and massacres the remaining refugees.
The story cuts between Marie’s frantic flight—she manages to slip away from the roadblock with the children—and interviews that question the UN’s reluctance to call the carnage genocide. In the epilogue, Marie tracks down Joe, who is now a teacher at Christopher’s old school, and the two briefly reflect on their shared experiences. The film closes with factual notes about the genocide in Rwanda and the specific killings at the ETO, alongside personal reflections from some of the crew who lived through those days.
