Aurelio Saravia is a powerful politician who holds office in Uruguay in the mid-1960's. When Aurelio's mistress kills herself, he adopts their illegitimate daughter Masangeles despite the stern objections of his wife Aurora. Masangeles finds herself growing up in a home ruled by a corrupt and self-centered tyrant and his manic colleagues while Uruguay teeters on the brink of civil war as bands of revolutionaries battle government militias. When she turns fourteen, Masangeles discovers a secret passageway in their home that leads to sanctuary in a nearby church which also serves as a storehouse for guns and ill-gotten cash. Teenage Masangeles falls in love with Santiago, her stepbrother who has joined the rebels fighting against the state, and she persuades him to take her virginity.

In Uruguay, where he lives with his wife and son Thomas, Orlando Vargas suffers from pressure from the government. Permanently watched by a policeman, Orlando seems not to care about danger. He decides to leave with his family to go to Josefina, the last village by the sea before Brazil. There, things move faster: on the day of his arrival, Orlando fails to return home.

The tale of five Uruguayan villagers who embark on a journey to see the ocean for the first time. They depart in a broken down freight truck, property of Rodríguez, a taciturn man who loves the sea. Their point of departure is a local bar, and at the last minute, an unknown man from the bar joins their adventure.