The story takes place in 1873, when Seth (Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey) was a black slave who suffered all kinds of inhuman treatment. in order not to make her daughter repeat her miserable path, she resolutely killed her newborn eldest daughter. Eighteen years later, every black slave did not expect that slavery had been completely overthrown, and now they are free men. With her second daughter Denver (Kimberly Ellis Kimberly Elise), Seth lives in Cincinnati and lives on a plantation with her friend Paul (Danny Glover Danny Glover). One day, a strange girl named beloved (Sandy Newton Thandie Newton) knocks on the door of Seth's house. She writes strangely and inarticulately. Seth takes the girl in, and then strange things happen to her one after another.