The Darling unfolds the gripping tale of Hannah Musgrave, a woman with a tumultuous past marked by her radical activism with the Weather Underground. Escaping prosecution in America, she finds refuge in Liberia, where she marries a government official and has three sons, while her true connection lies with the chimpanzees she shelters. As political turmoil grips Liberia, Hannah's life unravels with devastating consequences. When civil war erupts, she is forced to flee, abandoning all she loves. Years later, haunted by her decisions, she returns to confront the fragmented remnants of a once familiar world and the specter of a life she can never fully reclaim.