In a Malian village, Nyamanton, a young man from a noble family, defies convention by marrying Koudédia, a griotte regarded as being of lower social status. Determined to punish their union, Gnanson and the village elders turn a masked ceremony into an instrument of persecution. As the Komo spreads terror and the monkey dance begins, the couple must confront a tradition being used to deny them the freedom to choose their own destiny.