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A group of English schoolboys are stranded on an island after their plane crashes. Left to fend for themselves, two factions quickly form between the boys. Ralph (James Aubrey) is elected chief, and he concentrates on finding shelter, food, and a signal fire. Jack (Tom Chapin), the head of the choir, prefers to hunt wild pigs and have fun, illustrating the difference between civilization and savagery. Tension builds between the two factions, leading to a frightening battle for control of the island.

Lord of the Flies is also a 1954 novel by English author Sir William Golding (1911-1993). The screenplay for the movie was written and directed by English film-maker Peter Brook. A remake, also titled Lord of the Flies (1990) was released in 1990.

The beast was initially created in the boys' imaginations upon hearing frightening noises in the jungle at night. A pilot, presumably from the war some time earlier, had ejected from his airplane by parachute, was killed upon landing, and decomposed in his 1950s jet type flight suit and mask. The skeletal remains in the flight suit were later seen by several of the boys, but they did not recognize it for what it was. Their fright and imaginations caused them to only look at it very briefly before taking flight in fear of the "beast" they thought it was. Later in the film, another boy discovers the dead pilot, takes the time to view the parachute, flight suit, and helmet, and he recognizes it as a dead pilot, not a "beast." Some viewers, on another level, think of the beast in a more figurative fashion as the potential for savagery in otherwise civilized people when we stop practicing rational thought, substitute mysterious ideas, and invent unsupported dogma.

Jack's tribe ambushes Ralph and Piggy and steals Piggy's glasses. Ralph and Piggy confront the tribe and ask for the glasses back, offering to give them fire whenever they ask. Ralph passes the conch to Piggy, but the tribe boos and jeers rather than listen to him. Roger (Roger Elwin) pushes a boulder off the cliff, killing Piggy. The twins, Sam (David Surtees) and Eric (Simon Surtees), secretly inform Ralph that the tribe intends to hunt him down tomorrow and hurt him. Ralph attempts to hide in bush, but the tribe sets it afire to smoke him out. While the tribe chants "Kill the beast! Slit his throat! Butcher him!", Ralph stumbles along the beach until he is suddenly stopped by the legs of a naval officer, who appears stunned when the rest of the children come running out from the trees with their painted bodies and spears. One of the younger boys reaches up to touch the officer but can't find the words to speak to him. In the final scene, as the naval officer discusses the situation with another officer, Ralph just stands there with tears rolling down his cheeks while the smoke continues to billow over the island.