Hermila, 21, grew up in the wayside town of Iguatu, and as the film opens she’s returning, with her baby boy, from a failed foray in São Paulo. She uneasily settles back into Iguatu’s torpid rhythms, moving in with her family and reconnecting with an old boyfriend (Miguel), as well as a friend (Castro) who now works, casually, as a prostitute. When it becomes clear that Hermila’s husband back in the city will not be joining her, she hatches a scheme to escape again, selling raffle tickets for “one night in paradise” with “Suely,” her alter ego. Where she will go—and how she will survive there—remains an open question.