Evacuated from a war-torn world and marooned on a tropical island when their airplane crashes, a group of pre-adolescent boys find themselves battling for survival with no adults to help them. At first, the fair-minded and mild-mannered Ralph seems a natural leader, but as vestiges of civilization fall away, the more aggressive Jack takes control. Jack organizes the boys into a tribe of hunters, searching for pigs to kill and eat and, more alarmingly, watching for the Beast - a malevolent force that the boys believe is stalking the island.

Gradually the frightened youngsters slip from civilized behavior into red-blooded savagery. They battle with inner demons and external fears, with the weakest and most vulnerable at the highest risk. Ultimately, driven by a primitive bloodlust, childish “games” lead to tragic consequences and Golding’s timeless fable exposes the Beast that is in us all and debunks the myth of childhood innocence.