In Ancient Greece, King Agamemnon promises to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to the goddess Artemis in exchange for wind that will push his ships to Troy and war. Iphigenia imagines the moment her father agrees to sacrifice her, noting his lack of protest to her death. At this moment, she begins to disconnect from the world, and her sense of self dissipates. Her memory goes first, followed by her ability to feel things and see in color. Agememnon keeps Iphigenia and her mother in the dark about his decision. Rather, he tells them she is to be wed to Achilles, a lie intended to lead Iphigenia to the temple without raising distress. Now, after death, she is able to piece together a semblance of her memories, still parsing out which ones are true and where they align in her life. She revisits moments of her childhood, reflecting on her relationships with her family, especially her father.

On the journey to Aulis to be married, Iphigenia tries to ask her mother Clytemnestra questions about marriage, but forgets how. Once in the city, their slave tries to warn them away but Clytemnestra has not suspected the plot to sacrifice her daughter and instead reprimands him. When they reach Aulis, Agamemnon refuses to see them and Achilles treats them with disdain. Clytemnestra finally begins suspecting something is amiss, but refuses to acknowledge it.

When Clytemnestra finds out from their slave, Iamas, that Iphigenia will be sacrificed, not married, she makes a desperate attempt to save her daughter by seeking help from Achilles. Clytemnestra offers her body in exchange for Achilles' help in saving Iphigenia, however, he refuses her with scorn.

As Iphigenia lies waiting for her sacrifice at dawn, she remembers how her aunt Helen told her a story about when her father killed Clytemnestra's first husband and baby son so that he could force Clytemnestra to marry him and become king. In the present moment, Iphigenia takes her young brother with her on a walk and tells him the story of her short life so that she may live on in his memory. When her father comes to fetch her for the sacrifice, she resists his attempts, expressing rage at how he could dispose of her so easily. At the end, soldiers lead Iphigenia to the sacrificial site and she is killed. Artemis takes her body and turns her into the wind. As wind, Iphigenia tries to unleash her fury upon her father but to no avail; Artemis redirects the wind, forcing Iphigenia to blow all of the ships to Troy, leaving Iphigenia no autonomy even in death.