The film describes the events leading up to, and including, the massacre of the adults of a small town in Nebraska by their children, after the adults' irresponsibility ruins the crop and the children's future....
Lazareth follows Lee (Ashley Judd), an aunt whose life mission is to protect her orphaned nieces, Imogen and Maeve, from a self-destructing world, raising them in isolation until an outsider threatens their peaceful existence....
A shipowner intends to scuttle his ship on its last voyage to get the insurance money. Charlie, a tramp in love with the owner's daughter, is grabbed by the captain and promises to help him shanghai some seamen. The daughter stows away to follow Charlie. Charlie assists in the galley and attempts to serve food during a gale....
