In this drama centering around Catherine Donahue and her three coworkers / friends, the new financial independence of women working in the post-war 1920s is both liberating and exciting. The women earn a comfortable living painting watch faces glow-in-the-dark. This new vision of freedom is shattered when one by one the women begin to fall ill to mysterious ailments. They discover the source of their sickness is radioactive paint used for the watches, and decide to seek justice in the form of a class-action lawsuit against their employer, Radium Dial Company.