Antonio and Elisa, a newlywed couple, go on honeymoon to a seaside hotel, where he, a crime reporter obsessed with uncovering a major crime, finds his big opportunity.

Lorenzo is a young man returns to Spain after spending some time in England, where he fell in love with Berta, the daughter of Spanish immigrants. Lorenzo writes several letters to her trying to convey the beauty of the world her parents left behind.

The film is divided into three parts: 'Restlessness', 'Violence' and 'Death', to explain the motivations, evolution and defeat of three young misfits from Barcelona who end up being robbers. The way of crime is an easy way for them: a boy and a worker without a job or benefit are induced by 'el Señorito', the son of a rich lawyer. Together they form a band. Hard and violent, the film is made with a clear intention of social criticism and research of realism, culminating in a final scene that raised quite controversial.

The film follows the adventures of several couples in Spain in the early 70s, whose stories intermingle: Luis is an unfaithful husband to his wife Juana, Felipe is a plumber who seeks extra-spousal adventures to hidden from his wife, Rosario, who works as an assistant. Ramón is a pathological jealous whose obsession is that his girlfriend Charity confess the hypothetical adventures he had with other men before meeting him, Irene is a jealous wife of her husband, Carlos, whose professional life gives him numerous opportunities for infidelity, Domin he is a pimp who frequents the brothels of Madrid .

One unlucky day, a married couple with four children get an eviction notice: the building they live in is to be demolished. The family looks desperately for a new home, which is no easy task in Madrid in the fifties.

The brother of a condemned man kidnaps the son of the warden to blackmail him. But the director, firm in the line of duty, does not agree, so the criminals decide to get rid of the child. After seven years, the kidnapped boy lives with tramps and together with another child sings along the streets to earn money while committing rogueries