Poachers

Ángel lives a quiet, withdrawn life in a rustic farmhouse surrounded by the Segovia woodlands. He keeps to himself as a quiet hunter, interacting only with his domineering mother Martina. To survive, he hunts prey and secretly sells meat and skins, deftly dodging local guards.

As an alimañero, Ángel hunts wolves and other prey to protect deer within the reserve. He depends on furtive deception to avoid the civil guards while selling the meat and hides to make a living. The brutal work sets a tense balance between his law-abiding aspiration and illicit survival.

During the autumn hunting season, the Governor arrives at Ángel's base with an entourage to hunt stag. Martina greets him warmly, hinting at the Governor’s long-standing, intimate connection with her. The visit intensifies the power dynamics inside the household.

Ángel travels to the provincial capital to stock up on traps, rope, and nooses. In town he kills a wolf to sell its skin and encounters Milagros, a young woman who seduces him while still wearing her reform-school uniform. After a clandestine evening, he invites her to return with him to the forest.

Milagros seduces Ángel and buys him new clothes, presenting herself as someone eager to escape her troubles. They spend a clandestine night in a remote hotel and later decide to head for the forest together. The promise of an escape binds their uneasy alliance.

As the plan unfolds, Milagros agrees to accompany Ángel into the forest. Martina’s jealousy erupts, and she retaliates by killing a trapped she-wolf with an axe, displaying a brutal temper. The household tensions rise against the backdrop of the hunt.

During the hunting expedition, the Governor’s party fails to secure a deer, interrupting the day’s plans. Milagros remains by Ángel’s side as the Governor offers freedom for her if Ángel agrees to marry her. Ángel, determined to keep Milagros, accepts the idea of taking responsibility for her.

El Cuqui returns sooner than expected, triggering a police pursuit in the forest. The Governor asks Ángel to track him down because of his knowledge of the terrain. Ángel locates El Cuqui but lets him go after Milagros promises to stay if El Cuqui is spared.

Milagros disappears again, and Ángel heads back to the forest to search for her. Martina tries to console her son and even helps him remove his wet clothes after a long day, revealing the tangled loyalties within the household. The atmosphere grows increasingly corrosive as jealousy tightens its grip.

Peering into the attic, the Governor uncovers deer skins Ángel has poached. To curb illegal hunting, he appoints Ángel as a Forest Guard, signaling a shift in the hunter’s fortunes. With the external recognition comes growing success, yet his thoughts still linger on Milagros.

Ángel remains obsessed with Milagros and unexpectedly encounters El Cuqui, who demands to know Milagros’s whereabouts. He then finds a box of Milagros’ belongings in El Cuqui’s room, revealing she never truly escaped. The discovery leads Ángel to realize Martina, out of jealousy, has killed his wife.

Ángel takes Martina to mass and, at his insistence, she receives communion and later confession. On the way home from the Sunday service, he shoots her in the back in a snow-covered field, ending the volatile bond between mother and son. The act marks a brutal step into a harsher future for Ángel.