Young Alejandro (Jeremías Herskovits) resides in Tocopilla, Chile, with his Jewish-Ukrainian parents, Jaime (Brontis Jodorowsky) and Sara (Pamela Flores). With a communist father who venerates Stalin, Alejandro is brought up in a household filled with strict expectations. Sara, on the other hand, expresses herself through song, and she believes that Alejandro is the reincarnation of her father due to his long blonde hair. Frustrated with Sara's delusions about their son, Jaime, viewing Alejandro’s demeanor as cowardly and too delicate, resorts to drastic measures. He clips Alejandro’s hair — portrayed as a wig for added magic realism — and pressures him to renounce God while putting him through various trials that test his courage, from enduring tickling to enduring a dental procedure without any pain relief. Once he is satisfied with Alejandro’s resilience, Jaime showcases his acceptance by naming him the mascot of the Tocopilla fire brigade.
However, tragedy strikes during a fire when one of the firemen finds himself trapped and succumbs to the flames. In the wake of this horrific event, Alejandro envisions himself resting in the casket beside the deceased fireman and faints from fear. Following this incident, Jaime, in anger and disappointment, burns Alejandro’s mascot uniform in front of him, accusing his son of cowardice and expressing his shame. Seeking to restore his own reputation among the other firefighters — whom he believes scorn him due to Alejandro’s perceived cowardice and their Jewish heritage — Jaime makes a perilous attempt to bring water to plague victims quarantined outside their town. His efforts lead to disaster; Jaime's donkeys are slaughtered for food, and he becomes infected himself. As he stumbles back to his shop, he is caught in a standoff with the military. In a desperate moment, as convulsions take hold of him, Sara prays fervently for his recovery and, in an unconventional act, urinates on him, which astonishingly cures him.
Revitalized by his unexpected healing, Jaime hatches a plan to assassinate the right-wing president Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (Bastian Bodenhofer). Teaming up with another communist conspirator, Jaime attempts to eliminate Ibáñez at a dog show, although the assassination fails when the weapon misfires. Instead, Jaime spins a tale of heroism as he intervenes between Ibáñez and the assailant. To gain the president’s trust, Jaime cleverly convinces Ibáñez to hire him as the groom for his prized horse, Bucephalus. However, Jaime’s plot thickens as he poisons Bucephalus in his scheme to kill the president, but, when the pivotal moment arrives, he finds himself frozen in fear, unable to pull the trigger.
As the narrative unfolds back to Alejandro and Sara, the latter teaches Alejandro strategies for combating fear of the darkness and the importance of blending in. She expresses her unwavering belief that Jaime loves them both and is still alive. Together, they tie a stone to a balloon, hoping it will find its way to him. The fate of the stone becomes evident as it lands on the roof of a humble shack where Jaime, now oblivious to his past, resides with a small peasant woman, his arms painted in the colors of the Chilean flag.
Jaime embarks on a long journey back home but is captured by Nazis and subjected to torture. Ultimately, he is liberated by rebels and reunited with his family in Tocopilla. In a poignant moment of revelation, Jaime’s hands regain their strength as Sara declares, “You found in Ibáñez all you admired in Stalin. You are the same as they are! You have lived in the guise of a tyrant.” The story comes to a close as Alejandro, Jaime, and Sara board a ship, ready to leave Tocopilla behind.
