It begins in 1983 in Salvador city, with the attack against José, an ex-member of a left-wing political group. Meanwhile, his nephew Adonias is worried about an assignment his teacher has given him. Consequently, Adonias has to deal with his family's suffering, conflicts at school, and the anguish of having to write his school essay.

When bandits take the town of Sertânia, Antão gets shot, arrested, and left to die. Bleeding out, Antão's delirious mind begins to recall the events that led up to the incident through a sequence of increasingly unreliable fever dreams.