Dragonard is a story set in 1747, where a Scottish nobleman named Richard Abdee is auctioned off as a slave on the British Caribbean colony of St. Joseph's. The island is controlled by debauched French and British sugar plantation owners, who use African slaves to cut their sugarcane. The vile Captain Shanks, owner of a slave ship, keeps a close watch on them.
Abdee becomes the love interest of two women - the governor's daughter, Arabella, and his master's wife, Honore Juno. When Abdee is caught in bed with Juno, he is given 100 lashes with the dreaded "dragonard" whip, meant to be fatal. However, with the help of sympathetic brothel owner Naomi, Abdee survives and joins a slave revolt to end the era of savage whippings on the island.
The film was shot back to back with its direct sequel, Master of Dragonard Hill (1987), based on the second book in the long-running Dragonard series of novels.