It takes courage, patience, and equanimity to cope with the disappointments and challenges of raising a family and making a living. People get worn out by the daily toll of physical exhaustion and emotional crises. In his first feature film, documentary filmmaker Chico Teixeira focuses on a working-class family in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and their struggles to live together in peace. This slice-of-life drama vividly conveys how our familiar existence can unravel through the accumulation of small shocks.
Alice (Carla Ribas) lives in a cramped apartment with her mother Dona Jacira (Berta Zemel), husband of 20 years Lindomar (Zecarlos Machado), and three sons. Dona Jacira holds everything together by doing the cooking, cleaning, and ironing as tries to meet the needs of the selfish men in the household. She assuages her loneliness and deals with the onslaught of blindness by listening every day to her favorite radio program. Lucas (Vinicius Zinn), the oldest son, is a soldier who enjoys passing on sexual advice to his younger brother Junior (Felipe Massuia), who is experimenting romantically. Edinho (Ricardo Vilaca) steals money from his grandmother to purchase new stuff he wants.
Alice dispenses romantic counsel to a pretty young neighbor but is shocked when she discovers that her husband is having an affair with her. Working as a manicurist in a beauty parlor, Alice caters to Carmen (Renata Zhaneta), a rich client with a fancy car. It turns out that her wealthy husband Nilson (Luciano Quirino) dated Alice when they were both young. She begins an affair with him and in her mind dreams of a new life. But Alice's midlife meltdown is underway and no amount of yearning can provide her with what she needs.
