In 1688, the priest of an unorthodox congregation in western Scotland is arrested for heresy. Agnes, Alice Lowe, a witness to his execution, becomes enamoured by him and tries to save him. The moment turns tragic when she is struck by an axe; the priest, Alex, Aneurin Barnard, takes the opportunity to escape. Scipio, Jacob Anderson, an onlooker, draws the scene. As Agnes dies, she promises she will see Alex again.
In 1793, Agnes has been reborn and lives in the English countryside. She confides to her handmaiden Meg, Tanya Reynolds, about her dissatisfaction with her life, constantly under the heel of her domineering husband George, Nick Frost. One day, she finds Alex, now a highwayman. Despite seemingly striking a romance with him, Alex steals Agnes’ necklace, an heirloom from George’s family, prompting George to threaten to hang him. Scipio, now a servant to the couple, encourages Agnes to stand against George, who burns her books in retaliation. At a masquerade, Agnes meets Alex amongst the guests, but he privately insists that he cannot take her to France with him. George catches them and furiously drags Agnes back to his house. Agnes declares that she will return, to which George threatens he will hunt Agnes “until the end of time” and swiftly beheads her.
> until the end of time
In 1847, Agnes, now a schoolteacher, is passed by a man she recognises as Alex. Following him, she narrowly saves him from an oncoming carriage, but is again beheaded.
In 1940, George and Agnes are a magician and his assistant during the Blitz. During a performance, Agnes notices that Alex is a soldier in the audience. When George recognises Alex, he again attacks her after Alex responds to a raid siren.
In 1980, Agnes has come to Manhattan to find Alex, now a pop star, to Meg’s chagrin. She regularly receives counsel from a shrink, who tells her that she has reincarnated because of something she is lacking. Meeting with Scipio, Alex’s manager, Agnes denies her obsession with him, while Scipio expresses his anger at Alex for using his songs without credit. When the shrink suggests that she should “turn the tables,” Agnes confronts Alex after a concert, only for him to insist that she is his stalker. Scipio, rather than saving Alex, asks if she will be a “revolutionary.” Agnes relents, saying she is only a fan, and leaves.
Receiving proper psychological support, Agnes is told that her obsession was a delusion. Falling back on George, who has himself observed her, Agnes nearly marries George, but when George remembers Alex from forty years earlier, he stabs her in the chest. Agnes pleads that George let her go and that she wants him to be who he wants himself. Given his experiences in his current life, George has a change of heart and relents. Hallucinating meeting Scipio, who shows her his drawing and claims that she has died for the final time, Agnes releases her fixation on Alex and recognises that Meg has shown her love the entire time. Returning to life, Agnes arrives at Alex’s failing concert, telling him she will set themselves free, and embraces him before shooting him and herself in the head.
In a dystopian 2117, Agnes and Meg are a couple and, with Scipio and George, are part of a resistance movement against an unspecified power. As the rebels charge at a group of paramilitary officers, Agnes pauses when one officer unmasks himself as Alex. He tells her that he loves her, compelling Agnes to retreat.
