In the Spanish countryside, the prize cow of Gildo (Juan Diego) wanders onto the property of a brutish neighbor, Severo (Celso Bugallo). He's enraged by the animal's presence. A confrontation ensues, Gildo kills Severo, and the murderer and his daughter, Val (Marta Etura), try to hide the crime. Rai (Luis Tosar), Severo's son who lives in a nearby city, comes to investigate his father's death. But he falls for Val, and she is then torn between being honest with Rai and being loyal to her father.