In 1860s France, Étienne Lantier, an unemployed railway worker, is clever but uneducated with a dangerous temper. Forced to take a back-breaking job at the Le Voreux mine when he cannot get other work, he discovers that his fellow miners are ill, hungry, and in debt, unable to feed and clothe their families. When conditions in the mining community deteriorate even further, Lantier finds himself leading a strike that could mean starvation or salvation for all.