Pioneer is set in the early '80s, at the beginning of the Norwegian Oil Boom. Enormous oil and gas deposits are discovered in the North Sea and the authorities aim to bring the oil ashore through a pipeline from depths of 500 meters. A professional diver, Petter, obsessed with reaching the bottom of the Norwegian Sea has the discipline, strength and courage to take on the world's most dangerous mission. But a sudden, tragic accident changes everything. Petter is sent on a perilous journey where he loses sight of who's pulling the strings. Gradually he realizes that he is in way over his head and that his life is at stake.

We follow Henrik Ibsen throughout his life. From early shame over his father's bankruptcy, via bitterness over the then conservative public life, to his older years as a national institution that tourists gathered to watch on their way to their very punctual, daily lunch at the Grand Café in Oslo.