Lima, Peru, 1991. After years of fruitless efforts, a group of police officers finally find a lead on the whereabouts of Abimael Guzmán, the bloodthirsty leader of the communist terrorist gang Shining Path.

A politician accused of fraud seeks refuge in a remote, hotel he owns. Joined by his wife, and children he requests aid from his friends. His friends refuse to help, and eventually his family leave him, leaving him with few options.

Cyril and Fiona, a free-wheeling married couple, travel to a tropical coastal town to follow their sexual fantasies. Cyril is a manipulator. There, they meet another couple, Catherine and Hugh, and their three children. Hugh is a one-armed photographer who specializes in nude photographs of peasant women. Soon, they decide to live together and an erotic atmosphere develops between them.

A young boy, attempting to have a normal childhood in 1980s El Salvador, is caught up in a dramatic fight for his life when he desperately tries to avoid the war that is raging all around him.

Owners of two small farms try to move forward in life by wholesaling their own produce instead of relying on dishonest brokerages. When that doesn't work, they hatch a kidnapping scheme, and the movie shifts its focus to the rich people who have been profiting off their poverty.

The film is a drama about the aftermath of the 1520s Spanish Conquest of Mexico told from the perspective of the indigenous Aztec people. It explores the social, religious, and psychological changes brought about by a historical process of colonization that both defined the American continent and is also highly reminiscent of today’s neocolonialism.