Fernanda is content with her life until she meets Miguel, a drug addict, bisexual male prostitute. She becomes captivated by him and leaves her family behind in favor of a new life filled with sex and debauchery.

In 1925, Gabriela, a poor, uneducated, yet charming woman becomes cook, mistress, and then wife of Nacib, a bar owner in Ilhéus, a small Brazilian coastal town run by the local colonels.

Financial problems in a religious school for girls force the government to interfere. While waiting in the conference hall to communicate the fact to the school administrators, the intervenor falls asleep and a crazy dream begins, involving teachers, students and strange characters.