In the 1940s, a small Mexican town has seen its last three mayors assassinated in rapid succession. A naive janitor is recruited to become the new mayor, and he believes he will modernize the little town and usher in a reign of peace. But the system corrupts him very quickly, and he takes to abusing his power while associating with an unscrupulous assortment of opportunists, hypocrites and criminals.
After wandering a ruined city for years in search of food and shelter, two siblings find their way into one of the last remaining buildings. Inside, they find a man who will make them a dangerous offer to survive the outside world.
Desperate to flee but consumed by fear, Alejandra, a young mother and working housewife, is trapped in a violent and unsatisfying relationship with her husband, Angel. She leans on her brother Fabián for support, but he has secrets of his own. All of their lives are turned upside down by the arrival of the mysterious Veronica. She convinces them that in the nearby woods, inside an isolated cabin, dwells something not of this world that could be the answer to all of their problems... something whose force they cannot resist and with whom they must make peace or suffer its wrath.
Magdalena makes a journey to find her son, who has disappeared on his way to the Mexican border with the United States. Her odyssey takes her to meet Miguel, a man recently deported from the US. They start to travel together, Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel hoping to see his mother again.
Heli must try and protect his young family when his 12-year-old sister inadvertently involves them in the brutal drug world. He must battle against the drug cartel that have been angered as well as the corrupt police force.
Juan and his urban family live in the Mexican countryside, where they enjoy and suffer a world apart. And nobody knows if these two worlds are complimentary or if they strive to eliminate one another.
In Vera Cruz in the 1940s, Nacho, an Indian, waits tables at Don Lázaro's café at Hotel Ofélia. He falls for Lola, an opium-addicted, alcoholic whore who's hopelessly in love with Gardenia Wilson, a masked wrestler who slept with her once but knows she's unbalanced. Don Lázaro warns Nacho about Lola, and Nacho knows his love will be unrequited, but he'll do anything, regardless of how degrading, to be near her. Lola, for her part, can be sadistic. Republican exiles who are regulars at the café encourage Lola's desire to assassinate Franco. Nacho in turn mixes this political mirage with his fascination with the plot of "The Mikado." Where do fantasies and obsessions lead?
After St. Jude appears in Esperanza's oven, she sets out to find her daughter, who died under mysterious circumstances. The journey forces Esperanza to challenge her own beliefs and face her fears in order to be reunited with her beloved daughter.
After her husband leaves her for a younger woman, Julia plans her revenge with the help of her grandmother.
Every Friday, the Colonel puts on his only suit and goes to the dock to await a letter announcing the arrival of his pension. But the townsfolk all know that this pension will never come. His wife also knows it, and even he knows it. But he is still waiting, living with the pain of the death of his son.
Ramin flees from persecution in Iran and ends up living in the limbo of exile, far from everything he knows, in the tropical port town of Veracruz, Mexico. There his nostalgia and melancholy are confronted with new friendships, while he starts to rediscover his own desires.
Lucia, an children's book author, tells the story of her husband's disappearance. One day on their way to Brazil he just disappears. She goes to the police, gets a ransom note, and makes friends with the old dude downstairs and the young dude upstairs as she tries to find him. Things take a bit of a twist as she realized the kidnapping may not be as simple as it seems on the surface.
Rodrigo is a solitary teenager, a king in the private world he shares with his mother. Things change when she takes her new boyfriend home to live. He must decide if he fights for his throne and crushes the happiness of the person he loves the most.
During a carnival, near the border between Argentina and Bolivia, a young Malambo dancer prepares for the most important competition of his life. When his ex-felon father returns, he jeopardizes everything by dragging his son into the criminal world.
Miguel and Johnny know each other since childhood. They are dedicated to skate and have fun. To earn easy money and continue skating, they sell their own blood to a clandestine contact in a hospital. The activity becomes business until a large transaction is not as they imagined.
Displaced by the violence that swept their town, Paloma and Lobo survive trying to love each other. Through thirst, fear and nostalgia, Paloma wishes to go back home but Lobo lives tied to a memory that stops him from returning.
The imprint of the past is made present by the return of three migrants to a community in the upper Mixteca region of Oaxaca, where the three stories intersect.
During 1950, Miguel Contreras Torres led a group of filmmakers to officially denounce William O. Jenkins' monopoly on film theaters, which was built throughout the country upon crime and corruption. Ever since, Uncle Miguel was ridiculed and eventually forgotten, but it is certain that his proclaim announced the separation of Mexican cinema and its audience. Discoveries may be found in the films made by Miguel, and bringing back to life these moving pictures might recover this history that was never told, a story that is almost lost and that Contreras Torres himself tried to pass on through his writings in The Black Book of Mexican Cinema.
Deep in the Mexican countryside, a community is plagued by the constant threat of looming violence. Three women from different social classes—a maid, her wealthy employer, and a police officer—become tragically affected by a missing-person case related to organized crime.
Every afternoon Noelí, a young Dominican woman, hangs out on the beach at Las Terrenas. With her boyfriend, Yeremi, they look for ways to make a living at the expense of one of the hundreds of tourists there. However Noelí also has a steady client, Anne, a much older French woman, who, like many other Europeans, has found an idyllic refuge on the island to spend her last years. For Noelí, the relationship is one of convenience, but the feelings become more intense as they plan to leave together for Paris.
