On a beautiful Pacific island a boy's friendship with a magical turtle brings vengeance from the villagers.

Somewhere between fact and fiction, superstition and the supernatural, lies the story of Jonasi, "The Silent One". It is a magical tale echoing the rhythms and legends of the Pacific, of village life, and of the sea; filmed in the Cook Islands, on an idyllic coral atoll representing a mythical Polynesian island. "The Silent One" tells the story of Jonasi, a uniquely gifted young Polynesian man sent from the sea as a baby to grow up in an islolated Pacific village. Separated from the villagers by his silence and their prejudices, Jonasi finds solace in his underwater world where he develops a special relationship with a huge white turtle. Both Jonasi and the turtle are regarded as evil spirits by the superstitious villagers.

An inevitable struggle for power and leadership, combined with natural disasters, sweep Jonasi towards his strange, final destiny and a revelation of his mystical powers.