A moody thriller, Eye of the Needle is set during the waning days of World War II and focuses on a ruthless Nazi spy (Donald Sutherland) operating covertly in England. Discovering vital information about the upcoming D-Day invasion, he plots a return to Germany, only to be stranded on an island off the coast of Scotland; there, his icy resolve is disturbed by an unexpected relationship with a woman (Kate Nelligan) living in isolation with her bitter disabled husband (Christopher Cazenove).