Unable to tolerate her father's abusive and authoritarian ways, María has fled from her parents' home in rural Andalusía to Sevilla. There she finds an apartment in a rundown part of the city and a demoralising job as a cleaner. Her life now brings only frustration and bitterness and she turns to drink for solace. María's situation worsens when she discovers that she is pregnant and the father of the child, her truck driver boyfriend, refuses to take responsibility, apart from casually offering to pay the expenses of an abortion.
When her father goes into hospital in Sevilla for an operation, Rosa, her mother comes to stay with her. Attempting to care for María and to brighten her life a little, Rosa finds her daughter bitter and distant, refusing all offers of help from her mother who has to spend her days alone in the city. Rosa then encounters one of María's neighbours, an elderly widower named Vecino, whose only companion is his German shepherd, Achilles. A touching and respectful friendship slowly develops between these two as they continue to meet each other. María's mother's desire to help the old and lonely man, and the gratitude he shows her in return, is contrasted with the cold detachment of her daughter, and the contempt shown by her husband during her daily visits to the hospital. But Rosa has grown used to their ways and accepts them as a part of the life she has chosen. Vecino begins to nurture a deep affection for Rosa, and she responds by showing him friendship but maintaining an appropriate distance between them. As he quietly engages Rosa's attention and help, intentionally and unintentionally, she passively endures both her husband's abusiveness and her daughter's intolerance.
Gradually, María realises that behind her mother's passivity is a strength and compassion which is absent in herself. She begins to understand that what is missing in her life is perhaps a result of her self-imposed emotional isolation. Her father is then discharged from hospital after his operation and her parents return to their country home, leaving both María and Vecino to themselves once more. Following Rosa's departure, during a revelatory evening spent with Vecino, María realises how much she wants a life with her child, and in a completely unexpected development we learn how this is accomplished.
An outstanding, touching portrayal of loneliness and redemption, with a deep sense of serenity and clarity amid boiling human emotion, and the most uplifting, if heart-wrenching, conclusion.
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