1917. Nivelle - 'the butcher' - commands the French Army, and the attacks he keeps ordering are pointless slaughters. The soldiers can't take it any more. Discontent is turning into rebellion, and a petition is being circulated in secret. When it makes its way to the men of Sergeant Sabiane, something snaps in them, and what begins as a simple cry of defiance becomes a full-blown mutiny when a handful of them decide to take the petition to Paris...
