In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.

The Runway is inspired by the true story of a South American pilot who landed his plane near Mallow, in 1983. Against all odds, the people of the town came together to build a runway to get him home and briefly caught the imagination of the nation. It is the story of Paco, a young boy without a father who adopts the pilot and convinces the town to build a runway to get him home.

While Sandra opens up to a documentary film crew, flashbacks show her teenage son, Stephen, mysteriously kidnapping a toddler, and holding him captive. Eventually, the stories intersect to explain the abduction and the family's three-generation legacy of abuse in this mesmerizing psychological drama.