The film begins with a story in white print rolling up the screen. There is a background of a red sky, with a house to the left and a pole in the middle; to the right, a man buries someone under a tree. The story tells of a young woman who marries a man named William Munny against her family's wishes. Although she could have married anyone, she married this thief and murderer with a bad temper, breaking her mother's heart. However, in 1878, she died of smallpox.

The rest of the film's story begins two years later, in 1880, in Big Whiskey, Wyoming. There is the roll of thunder and the sound of rain in the background as the setting remains dark; it is difficult to see what is going on. The viewer can hear and barely see a couple engaged in sexual intercourse. Yelling...