A group of English schoolboys survives a plane crash on an uninhabited Pacific island during a nuclear war. They quickly realise that they have to organise their life together. Ralph is chosen as the leader. Jack, the leader of a second group, soon begins a brutal power struggle. The tide turns from paradisiacal innocence to barbaric primitiveness. Sacrificial ceremonies such as ritualistic killings of the outsiders are part of it. During a hunt the island is set on fire and devastated. Abitur recommendation for the subject area Individual and society.