Based on the acclaimed novel by Tomás González.

In The Beginning Was The Sea is a taut psychological drama set on the Colombian coast in the late 1970s. A tragic, compelling and passionate account of a young couple's encounter with fate. Based on true events, the film tells the story of Jacobo and Elena, a young couple who decide to abandon Medellin for a simpler life on a remote finca by the sea. However, once there they realize that the idyllic paradise of palm trees and sandy beaches which they had imagined does not match up with reality. Instead, the couple find themselves in a hostile land, struggling to cope with suffocating heat, torrential rain, diseased animals, and alienating locals. Initially optimistic, Jacobo embarks upon a series of futile attempts to turn a profit from the land, each more unsuccessful and destructive than the next. Facing growing debt, their relationship quickly deteriorates and a growing sense of their own powerlessness begins to take hold. The brutal weather, the couple's brittle relationship, and the sea itself threaten to destroy them. Jacobo and Elena are forced to take drastic measures - actions that lead them to a tragic and inescapable end.—Marcus Werner Hed