In Guita Schyfter’s El águila y el gusano, an intricate plot serves to intersect the destinies of several characters: the owner of a beauty salon in love with “all things Chinese”, a politician with a taste for oration who couldn’t care less about the problems of his country, a political adviser whose counsel is never considered and a shady investigator with a name that nobody seems to recall. The script by Schyfter and Hugo Hiriart, her longtime collaborator and author of the 2013 novel on which the film is based, bristles with finely-crafted, hilarious dialogue.

Julian has always admired his grandfather's power. He grows up with his best friend, Felipe Molina, and a group of boys destined to live with all the advantages of a privileged class. But violence and a mafia mentality transform society, including the habits of Julian and his friends. His games with weapons, seemingly harmless amusements, become a collective nightmare.

At a summit for Latin American presidents in Chile where the region's geopolitical strategies and alliances are in discussion, Argentine president Hernán Blanco endures political and family drama that will force him to face his own demons.

In a small Catholic village, the community stands against the local priest when the latter refuses to offer a funeral mass for a suicide victim. In reprisal, the priest denies the sacraments to the entire town, until the family of the deceased remove the body from the catholic graveyard.

Marlon Cruz, a young Colombian man who motivated by his girlfriend Reina, leaves his comfortable life in Medellin and flees with her through Guatemala and Mexico, across the borders, illegally into the United States.

World-weary author Fernando has returned to his native Colombia to live out his days in peace. But Fernando's once-quiet hometown has become a hotbed of violence, drugs, and corruption. On the brink of despair, Fernando meets Alexis, a beautiful but hardened street kid who lives by the rule of the gun. Together, they forge an unlikely relationship.