All About My Father

On the night of Esteban's 17th birthday, he is hit by a car while chasing after his favorite actress. He dies, and Manuela agrees to donate his heart. The heart is transplanted into a man in A Coruña, setting off a painful turning point for their family.

Manuela travels to locate the man who received Esteban's heart in A Coruña and learns about the life her son's death has given to another. The discovery deepens her sense of loss and responsibility.

Realizing the donor's life will continue elsewhere, Manuela resigns from her hospital post and travels to Barcelona in search of Lola, Esteban's other mother. She hopes to understand the family she kept secret from her son.

In Barcelona, Manuela reconnects with Agrado. She becomes entwined with Huma and Nina, a troubled actress and her lover, and meets Rosa, a HIV-positive nun pregnant with Lola's child. Manuela also begins working as Huma's personal assistant and stands in as Nina's understudy during one of Nina's drug crises.

Rosa's pregnancy deepens the group's ties, and she navigates her HIV-positive status while preparing for a difficult birth. On the way to the hospital, Rosa asks the taxi to stop at a park, where she sees Sapic, her father's dog, and then her Alzheimer's-stricken father, who does not recognize her. The moment underscores the fragile, tangled family bonds among the group.

Rosa dies while giving birth to a healthy boy. Manuela adopts Rosa's son and cares for him at Rosa's parents' house, posing as the family's cook to keep their connection secret.

Lola, who was Esteban, is revealed to be the other parent and is dying of AIDS. She speaks about always wanting a son, and Manuela tells Lola about their own son Esteban, deepening the emotional stakes.

Rosa's mother spots Manuela with the baby and confronts her about exposing the child to outsiders. Manuela explains Lola's role, but Rosa's mother remains wary of infection and tampering with the family. Unable to stay, Manuela flees back to Madrid with Esteban and writes a letter to Huma and Agrado.

Two years pass before Manuela returns to Barcelona with Esteban, who remains healthy and AIDS-free. She plans to stay with Esteban's grandparents and rebuild her life around this fragile family.

At an AIDS convention in Barcelona, Manuela reunites with Huma and Agrado, who now run a stage show together and embrace her place in Esteban's life. The group remains a chosen family across the city.

Agrado reveals that Nina broke up with Huma, returned to her hometown, and started a family of her own, now with a son. The news adds a bittersweet tone to the circle's continuing bond.

Esteban grows up healthy and AIDS-free, and Manuela's life is rebalanced as she stays connected to her friends across Madrid and Barcelona. The film closes with a sense of family formed through choice, not biology.