Wanted for killing his boss, Manuel flees with his wife Rosa to the sertão, the barren landscape of Northern Brazil. Thrust into a primordial violent region, Manuel and Rosa come under the influence and control of a series of frightening figures.

In a large house in Salvador lives a family: Hercules, Julia, two of the couple's nephews, Hercules' father-in-law, and two maids. Hercules is a farmer who is in a professional and marital crisis. The mystical figure of Calunga mysteriously appears in the big house. He causes deep transformations in the family. Calunga relates to the women of the house and shakes the established patriarchal structure.