The Ancestors is the story of three generations of first daughters who were born after the abolition of slavery and possessed egos that were not compliant with the expected and largely accepted subservient role of women within the humble but chauvinistic environment in which they lived. The spirit of the era is captured as the biopic depicts simple sub-cultural lifestyles with fixed superstitions, parallel belief in God and the occult and unique language. Life experiences are simpathetically and humorously echoed during separate journeys of survival and eventual triumph.