Something of Value

In 1945, Kikuyu workers live under colonial rule on the McKenzie farm. They maintain peaceful relations with Henry McKenzie and follow their own religious beliefs that forbid violence against the settlers. The stage is set for growing tensions beneath the surface of calm colonial life.

Kimani asks to use a rifle during a lion hunt, but Jeff Newton slaps him and reminds him he cannot have the gun or continue his friendship with Peter. The humiliation sharpens racial tensions and foreshadows later conflict. Kimani then disappears from the camp, signaling the fracture between communities.

Kimani is injured by a trap and Peter carries him home on his back. Kimani suggests they adopt master and serf roles, but Peter refuses to change their relationship and insists on remaining brothers rather than masters.

Karanja, Kimani's father, orders the murder of a newborn believed to be cursed. After his act, Karanja is arrested and jailed, triggering a clash over tribal authority and colonial rule. Henry argues with the Crown consul that stripping elders' authority risks eroding Kenyan life and faith.

While visiting Karanja in jail, the elder gives Henry a sacred stone, deepening the spiritual ties of the community. Karanja uses the moment to push Kimani toward becoming headman, but Kimani refuses to spend his life as a white man's slave.

Moved by moral outrage, Kimani attends a secret Mau Mau meeting led by Njogu. He is asked to prove fidelity by stealing rifles, and the raid ends with a houseboy killed by Mau Mau militants. Kimani struggles with the methods, and Njogu insists he must remain because the police will connect him to the crime.

Years later, in 1952, Peter leads safaris to supplement the farm's dwindling income, and Holly Keith returns after studying abroad. As Kenya grows tenser, white settlers question the disappearances of workers while their wives remain silent out of fear.

Kimani submits to a Mau Mau oath, receiving seven gashes on his arm and drinking sheep's blood as he swears to drive the Europeans from Kenya. Njogu claims he is too old to take on the oath's tenets, highlighting the tension within the movement.

During Peter and Holly's wedding night, the Mau Mau raid the McKenzie farmhouse, killing Jeff and two of his three children and wounding Elizabeth. Kimani, torn between loyalties, cannot bring himself to kill Elizabeth and retreats, leaving her wounded. The attack marks a devastating blow to the family and signals the depth of conflict.

A state of emergency is declared as British forces retaliate. Peter and Joe bomb a Mau Mau camp; the rebels surrender and are interned, where many are tortured for information. Peter returns home exhausted, and Holly pleads for departure, but Peter refuses to abandon his land.

Joe tortures Njogu for information, and to avoid martyrdom, Njogu admits that Kimani is a Mau Mau general and the leader of the attack on the McKenzie home. The revelation further tightens the net around Kimani and his followers.

Peter seeks a resolution and meets Kimani at a hidden spring to discuss terms. Kimani urges negotiation with the whites, arguing that it is hatred on both sides that fuels the conflict and that a peaceful path may be possible.

In Nairobi, Peter reunites with Holly at the hospital where Elizabeth's child is born. Holly expresses love for Africa and a desire to return home, signaling a complicated desire to stay and fix what has happened.

Joe leads armed men to the spring and a confrontation erupts, forcing Kimani and his followers to flee into the jungle with an infant. Peter arrives and reveals that both men feel betrayed, intensifying the pursuit.

In a final struggle, Kimani grabs for a gun and tries to kill Peter, but the weapon slips and he is fatally wounded in a bamboo spike pit. Peter pleads for surrender and refuses to cast away the child, carrying the baby home to raise with Elizabeth's newborn in the hope that a new generation might bridge the rift.