Henri “Papillon” Charrière, um arrombador de cofres do submundo parisiense, é injustamente incriminado por homicídio e condenado a prisão perpétua na colónia penal da Ilha do Diabo. Papillon cria uma improvável aliança com o falsário Louis Dega, que em troca de proteção concorda em financiar a fuga de Papillon. Juntos irão planear e executar a mais corajosa fuga alguma vez contada.
Vincent, a 20-year old geology student from Paris, goes to French Guyana to do an internship at a gold mining company. Taken under the wing of local gold lord Antoine Serra, Vincent quickly falls into the much more lucrative and dangerous world of gold trafficking. From Serra, who acts like a father to him, Vincent learns everything there is to know about the business. Newcomers aren't welcome - Louis, Serra's right hand, makes it clear that he does not trust him. Vincent and Serra start building a camp to explore a gold mine, but tensions rise to a full-fledged war between them and their Brazilian competitors. And things get even more complicated when Vincent discovers that the mythical Sarah Bernhard mine is not a legend. The Guyanese jungle is a world where businessmen, gangsters, geologists and soldiers collide, and men kill and are killed for a few grams of the precious metal.
