A Tahitian pearl fisher falls in love with a woman branded untouchable by his tribe.

In 1929 on the island of Bora Bora, which is still untouched by the hand of civilization, young lovers Matahi and Reri frolic in a waterfall. The islanders then run to greet Tabu, an envoy from the Chief of Fanuma, who has come to name Reri the successor to the island's sacred virgin. When the heartbroken Reri is brought before Tabu, he decrees, "Man must not touch her or cast upon her the eye of desire...from this time forth she is tabu. To break this tabu means death." The natives stage a celebration in Reri's honor in which they dance and play music, and then she sails away with Tabu. When Matahi then kidnaps Reri, however, the islanders fear the power of the tabu will fall upon them. If found unchaste, Reri will be sacrificed and Matahi and Tabu will die. Near starvation, Matahi and Reri travel in a canoe through storms to the "land of the white man." There, the couple celebrates with the islanders until the local government demands their arrest to keep peace among the islands. While Matahi charms the policeman into letting them stay, a diver defies a mandate which forbids diving in the pearl-rich seas because the natives believe they are guarded by a man-eating shark, and is indeed killed by a shark. Later, in her room, Reri receives a letter from Tabu stating she has three days to return to him or Matahi will die. Unaware of Tabu's demands, Matahi plans to buy tickets for the schooner Hinano , which is scheduled to arrive in two days. Matahi then learns of his debt to Kong Ah, the barkeeper, and slips out in the night to search for pearls. While he is away, Reri writes her farewell note to Matahi saying "the tabu is upon us." Matahi barely escapes the jaws of the shark and returns home to find his lover missing. Desperate, Matahi swims to Tabu's boat and drowns.