La Habanera

In 1927, Swedish tourists Astrée Sternhjelm and her Aunt Ana arrive in Puerto Rico. Astrée is enchanted by the Caribbean climate, the openness of the islanders, and the habanera music. Don Pedro de Avila invites them to a bullfight, where he heroically jumps into the ring after the matador is injured and kills the bull himself.

The next day, Astrée spontaneously decides to stay in Puerto Rico. She runs down the gangway to find Don Pedro waiting for her, and they are soon married. The dream of paradise quickly darkens into a life under his control.

In 1937, in Stockholm, Dr. Sven Nagel and his associate Dr. Gomez bid Ana farewell and prepare to return to Puerto Rico to investigate the mysterious fever. Ana asks them to bring Astrée back to Sweden. Their mission is driven by Ana's medical foundation and the island's suffering.

In Puerto Rico, Astrée is trapped in a loveless marriage. Her son Juan is the only reason she stays, but Don Pedro has warned that he will take the boy away if she tries to leave. The paradise she once found on the island has become a personal prison.

The doctors arrive to study the Puerto Rico fever, but their presence unsettles Don Pedro and his business associates who fear the investigation will ruin their profits. They attempt to keep the illness and its treatment under wraps to protect the island's economy.

With little local support, Nagel and Gomez conduct their laboratory work in secret, performing tests illegally in their hotel room. They work toward identifying the fever and finding a potential antidote, despite mounting danger.

A heated argument over Juan's education reveals the growing tension between Astrée and Don Pedro. He wants Juan to learn bullfighting, while she teaches him about snow and Sweden. The disagreement foreshadows her plan to leave.

Furious, Astrée secretly books passage on the next ship leaving Puerto Rico to take Juan home to Sweden. The ship does not depart for twelve days, delaying her escape but keeping hope alive.

Don Pedro invites the doctors to a party at his mansion, hoping to search their hotel room. During the event, Nagel and Astrée meet again and rekindle their romance, with Astrée singing the habanera for the crowd.

Just before the doctors are arrested, Don Pedro collapses, sweating heavily. Nagel diagnoses Puerto Rico fever and asks for his antidote, only to learn that Don Pedro ordered the destruction of all supplies during the raid. The scheme collapses as Pedro dies.

Don Pedro's mansion is donated to the poor for use as a retirement home, a symbolic turn of fortune that ends his stranglehold on Astrée. The island begins to free itself from the wealth-driven cover-up surrounding the fever.

Now a widow, Astrée is free to return with her lover Nagel and her son Juan to Sweden, seeking a new life away from Puerto Rico. The trio prepares to sail toward their homeland, leaving the island's shadows behind.

The film closes with Astrée, Nagel, and Juan departing Puerto Rico for Sweden, their futures bright but uncertain. The fever's secrets remain behind them as they voyage toward a hopeful horizon.