The film stars Vanessa Redgrave, Rooney Mara, Eric Bana, Theo James, Aidan Turner, and Jack Reynor.

Rose McNulty (Vanessa Redgrave) has been a patient in the Sligo Regional Mental Hospital for 50 years since being accused of murdering her baby in 1942.

Dr. Stephen Grene (Eric Bana) is a psychiatrist who, at the request of the local Catholic Church, is evaluating whether Rose should be transferred or released.

Rose is adamant that she did not kill her baby and tells her story to Stephen using the pages of a Bible on which she has written and drawn an account of her life before her incarceration.

She has a brief flirtation with Michael McNulty (Jack Reynor), a Protestant who sympathises with the British war effort and soon leaves to join the RAF.

Seeking to avoid trouble after a fight between Father Gaunt and Jack, her aunt sends Rose to live in a deserted farmhouse outside the village.

She discovers that she is pregnant and learns that babies born to single women are given up for adoption or spend their entire lives within the institution.

The officer from the Garda Síochána in pursuit in a boat with Gaunt can see Rose striking the ground with a rock and believes that she is killing her newborn son.

[5] In August 2014, it was revealed that Theo James, Eric Bana, Jack Reynor were in talks to co-star in the film.

The website's critical consensus reads, "The Secret Scripture has acclaimed source material and a well-chosen cast in its corner, but despite its stars' valiant efforts, this adaptation was better left on the page.