Macabea (Marcélia Cartaxo) is an impoverished 19-year-old orphan who recently moved to Rio de Janeiro after the death of the aunt who raised her. She works as a typist and shares a room with three other women. Although she earns less than the minimum wage, she remains largely unaware of her own poverty. Coworkers describe her as unattractive, and she makes numerous mistakes at work, typing one key at a time. Rather than using the bathroom at night, she hides a bowl under her bed to urinate, and she wipes her nose on her sleeve instead of using a tissue. Her typed pages often arrive with holes and grease, but she doesn’t notice until her boss points it out. Despite these flaws, she is incredibly polite and quick to apologize whenever she errs. Macabea grew up in extreme poverty without education and was never taught social graces.
> "I'm not much of a person," she says.
She describes herself as a typist and a virgin who likes Coca-Cola. Her voice is simple, almost childlike, and she clings to small consolations rather than grand dreams. She spends her days listening to the radio and copying the mannerisms of other women. Her lack of experience leaves her to find joy in the tiniest things: Sundays on the subway bring her a surge of happiness; a song on the radio can move her to tears; she pastes magazine photos on the walls and looks to others for cues on how to act. It’s clear that what she wants is not a specific goal but to be like everyone else, and most of her knowledge comes from the radio.
Olimpico de Jesus (José Dumont) is an insecure steelworker from Paraíba with a heavy chip on his shoulder, convinced that one day he will be rich. He is rough around the edges, uneducated, and loud, yet he behaves as though he has all the answers. His dream is to become a congressman because that would mean cars, indoor plumbing, and money to give away. He proudly shows Macabea a gold tooth and declares that soon he will have a mouth full of gold teeth to prove his future wealth.
They begin dating, and their courtship mostly unfolds on a park bench where Olimpico brags about his supposed bright future. He often grows irritated with Macabea because her naivete prevents her from being impressed by his boasts. He seems to see her as a potential wife because her innocence offers him comfort, while Macabea, ever influenced by the radio, repeats phrases she’s heard and clings to the idea that life could be better than it is.
Olimpico is frequently rude to Macabea, yet she rarely recognizes it. When a rainstorm hits, he uses his handkerchief to dry off while she stands in the cold and damp. On their first date, he offers to buy a cup of coffee but tells her that if she wants milk in it, she must pay for it herself. When she tries to sing along to a song she loves, he pushes her to the ground. Macabea hands him a coin and begs him to call her at work so she can hear his voice just once; he never follows through.
Glória, Macabea’s coworker, is a loud, fashion-forward counterpoint who offers her advice about men. Played by [Tamara Taxman], Glória dates a different man every week and dresses in bold, seductive clothes. Macabea looks up to her as a sister and role model, even as Glória’s desperation to marry leads her down questionable paths. The two women’s trajectories diverge when Glória seeks out a macumbeira, hoping to secure a stable romance. The advice she receives pushes her to consider stealing a friend’s man as a penitence of sorts, and she ends up briefly in a complicated affair with Olimpico. Olimpico eventually leaves Macabea for good, telling her she is a nuisance—“a hair in his soup.”
Glória eventually finds the man she believes is truly right for her and leaves Olimpico behind. He lingers outside Macabea’s home with a colossal stuffed animal intended for Glória, lingering on the edge of a story he cannot fully own. Macabea’s path intersects with fate when she visits Madame Carlota, a fortune teller who sees into her past with sharp accuracy. Madame Carlota’s predictions culminate in a dramatic promise: Macabea will marry a wealthy foreigner who drives a Mercedes and can shower her with money.
With this forecast in mind, Macabea experiences a sudden surge of excitement she has never felt before. She buys a new dress, stepping out into the street with a mixture of nerves and anticipation. She is struck down by a foreigner driving a Mercedes, and as she lies bleeding on the pavement, she imagines the driver rushing toward her with open arms, a final, yearning vision of belonging that she has always believed might happen one day.
