Island recounts the history of a small secluded island over the course of several millennia, to reveal a telling lesson about human nature. From the island’s rise to riches to its ultimate fall into ruins, the film explores the island’s different chapters over time: a heap of boulders, a massive guano deposit, a tropical oasis, a colonial territory, a prosperous republic, and an open-pit mine eventually devouring the island to the point of bankruptcy and desolation.