Set in the Faroe Islands in the 19th century. Faroese law dictates that if the birdcatcher Esmar and his wife Johanna cannot present a male heir within a year to their spiteful landowner Såmal, they will lose their leased land. When their third child turns out to be a girl, they take the advice of their unconventional friend Livia and look for another man to father the needed son. They choose Livia's lover, the French sea captain Armand. And indeed, Johanna gives birth to a boy. Although Såmal suspects that the Frenchman is Frans' father, he has to follow the law. Years pass – and then the French three-master once again enters the bay ... A drama of emotional entanglements played out against a ruggedly romantic backdrop, "The Birdcatcher's Son" depicts the consequences of a problematic family planning decision that is legally questionable, and even more risky emotionally, for everyone involved.