The film unfolds through the eyes of a ten-year-old boy, Harry, Matías Del Pozo, who doesn't yet grasp that Argentina's 1976 coup d'état is reshaping his life. The camera narrows in on a family trying to hold onto normalcy as a political nightmare rises outside their door. The mother, Cecilia Roth, and the father, Ricardo Darín, anchor the household, doing their best to shield the children from a climate of fear that becomes almost a family secret.
After witnessing the disappearance of dissidents, a human rights lawyer and his research scientist wife flee the city and hide in a vacant summer house. With them are their two kids: Harry and El Enano, Milton De La Canal. The shift from city life to a fragile refuge is rendered in quiet, observational detail, emphasizing how the adults juggle safety with the longing for a normal childhood for their children. The young boy Harry remains captivated by daring escapes and illusions, a thread of Houdini-like hope that threads through the unfolding days.
The family adopts new identities and attempts to lead a normal life under the radar, a precarious balancing act that tests trust and resilience. Later, they are joined by a student using the alias Lucas, Tomás Fonzi, whose arrival complicates the makeshift household and adds one more layer to their fragile sense of belonging. The newcomers bring not just companionship but also new tensions, as everyone adjusts to living under constant scrutiny and secrecy.
Their estranged grandparents visit, a visit that reveals both warmth and distance, underscoring the enduring ties that bind a family even when history has forced them apart. Grandfather, Héctor Alterio, and Grandmother, Fernanda Mistral, anchor the story with memory and lineage, reminding the characters—and the audience—that roots can sustain a fragile shelter in a storm.
Subtly, the film uses everyday details to convey stress: the mother's constant smoking and El Enano's renewed bed-wetting. These small, intimate markers act as metaphors for the fragility of their outwardly ordinary life and the invisible weight of fear pressing on them all. They are not grand declarations but quiet indicators of a family navigating danger, uncertainty, and longing for stability.
The mood remains restrained and observant, choosing depth over display as it tracks the family’s routines—meals shared in hushed tones, discreet glances, and the slow accumulation of risk. By focusing on texture—sound, silence, and the visual language of concealment—the film invites viewers to read between the lines and feel the pressure of living under a regime that imperils every moment of private life. It is a portrait of tenacity, love, and the stubborn human need to belong, even when the world outside seems to close in.
