The Wicker Tree

Beth and Steve travel to Glasgow to preach as part of their evangelical mission, but they meet hostility and indifference from the locals. They struggle to gain any foothold with pamphlets and save souls, underscoring the cultural clash they face. Their missionary effort pivots when the Morrisons invite them to Tressock, hinting at a new audience with different beliefs.

Sir Lachlan Morrison and his wife Delia invite Beth and Steve back to preach in the Scottish village of Tressock, hoping to leverage their May Day celebration. The locals are wary, given the village infertility tied to Sir Lachlan's nuclear plant. Beth and Steve agree to take on roles as May Queen and Laddie to win over the villagers.

In a flashback, Sir Lachlan recalls a mentor from his youth, a memory that hints at the occult beliefs underpinning the village rituals. This moment establishes the deeper motivations behind Tressock's pagan practices. The memory foreshadows the violence and control that will frame Beth and Steve's visit.

A detective named Orlando is sent to Tressock pretending to be a local police officer to investigate reports of a pagan cult. He becomes entwined by the villagers' secret worship of the Celtic goddess Sulis. His presence adds a modern investigative angle to the fragile peace in the village.

Steve has sex with Lolly, a local villager, while she bathes nude in a spring. He regrets the affair and expresses a desire to return home, destabilizing his marriage and mission. The act intensifies the village's suspicion and foreshadows the coming reckoning.

Beth and Steve decide to participate in the May Day celebration as May Queen and Laddie to impress the villagers. They underestimate the consequences of stepping into the village's sacred ritual. The decision binds them to a deadly tradition that casts a shadow over their mission.

Beame, the Morrison household's butler, attempts to sedate Beth to prepare her for her May Queen role. Earlier he had drugged a cat with spike milk, revealing a brutal method of control. Beth fights back when the plan is revealed.

During the May Day ritual, Steve is chased by villagers on horseback as part of their fertility rite. The mob's brutal act culminates with Steve being torn apart, marking a devastating turning point for Beth and the village. The ritual's violence exposes the darker underbelly of the celebration.

After discovering Steve's death, Beth escapes briefly but is captured again. She confronts Sir Lachlan at the wicker tree, challenging the village's brutal tradition. The moment sets the stage for the climactic act of the ritual.

Beth pushes Lachlan into the wicker structure and sets it on fire, killing him and symbolically burning away the local patriarchal control. The violent act exposes the ritual's true nature to the remaining villagers. The wicker tree becomes a focal point of the May Day lore.

Beth is captured while trying to flee with the few children left in the village and is killed. Her body is preserved and placed on display in a room with the previous May Queens. The ritual's legacy continues through the village's tradition.

Lolly gives birth to Steve's child, bringing a new generation to Tressock after years of infertility. Delia Morrison prays to the setting sun for the gods to find more men to sire additional children. The cycle of ritual fertility continues as the village looks to the future.