In January 1935, Rob leaves Holland for Cape Town, a young man thirsting for adventure and wanting above all to leave his family's suffocating hold on him behind. After a brutal stint in the diamond mines, he sails to Java to join the Dutch forces in their last stand against the invading Japanese. Here he finds Guus, a fellow countryman and the best friend he will ever have.

Elegant, painterly and poetic, Man on the Move is an unforgettable portrait of friendship, and the heart-wrenching story of a journey away from family into lonely adulthood, through war and captivity.