Adaptation of Mia Couto's novel "A River Called Time, A House Called Earth." When the gravedigger's shovel tried to dig into the ground to cover Dito Mariano's grave, it hit a surface as hard as steel. A storm broke out in the sky and a sense of awe swept over the family members present at the funeral. Whose fault was it that the earth would not open? Discord broke out among the women. Dulcineusa, the matriarch of the family, declared: "The earth will not open because there is a secret to be revealed."

It tells the story of a Brazilian filmmaker, Lucas. When his mother, Alice, dies in Belo Horizonte, he searches for his family's Portuguese roots across the ocean, discovering an intricate love story. Lucas's father, Olavo, was the son of a very wealthy Portuguese industrialist, Joaquim, who was disinherited when he married Alice, Lucas's mother, a very poor woman who lived in a rooming house in the city of Porto, Portugal. With the Second World War looming, they all left for Brazil, settling in Minas Gerais. While investigating his distant past, Lucas makes discoveries about possible criminal acts committed by his own father, Olavo. Lucas is helped by Teresa, a young Portuguese woman who works as a restorer of old Portuguese churches in the interior of Portugal. Lucas, assisted by Teresa, seeks to reconstruct the stories of his mother Alice, and ends up falling in love with Teresa.