Late one night a beautiful and well-dressed young woman Grace (Nicole Kidman) arrives in the mountainous old mining town of Dogville as a fugitive; following the sound of gunshots in the distance which have been heard by Tom (Paul Bettany) the self-appointed moral spokesman for the town. Persuaded by Tom the town agree to hide Grace and in return she freely helps the locals. However when the Sheriff from a neighbouring town posts a Missing notice advertising a reward for revealing her whereabouts the townsfolk require a better deal from Grace in return for their silence; and when the Sheriff returns some weeks later with a Wanted poster even though the citizens know her to be innocent of the false charges against her the town's sense of goodness takes a sinister turn and the price of Grace's freedom becomes a workload and treatment akin to that of a slave. But Grace has a deadly secret that the townsfolk will eventually encounter.