Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) and her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) hail from Alcanfor De Las Infantas, a quaint village in La Mancha, but both now reside in bustling Madrid. Tragedy struck three years prior when their parents perished in a fire. Sole returns to their home village to attend the funeral of her elderly Aunt Paula, who suffers from dementia. During her visit, Paula's neighbor, Agustina ([Blanca Portillo]), confides in Sole that she has overheard Aunt Paula conversing with the ghost of their mother, Irene (Carmen Maura). To Sole's astonishment, she experiences the ghostly presence herself.
Upon returning to Madrid, Sole finds that Irene has secretly hitched a ride in her car's trunk. Agreeing to let her mother stay, Sole runs a hair salon from her apartment, and Irene offers to help. Irene expresses her desire to understand why Raimunda harbors resentment towards her while she grapples with her own fear of confronting her daughter.
Meanwhile, Raimunda and her daughter, Paula ([Yohana Cobo]), face a different kind of tragedy. When Paula's father, Paco ([Antonio De La Torre]), makes an attempt to assault her, claiming he isn’t her real father, Paula bravely stabs him in self-defense. In a desperate act, Raimunda conceals the body in a nearby restaurant's freezer, owned by an absent proprietor, Emilio ([Carlos Blanco]). Soon after, a film crew stumbles upon the establishment, prompting Raimunda to seize the opportunity to cater for them and unintentionally thrusting herself back into the restaurant business.
As Raimunda navigates her newfound situation, she is forced to reveal to Paula that Paco was not her biological father, promising to divulge the complete truth at a later time. Concurrently, Agustina learns of her terminal cancer diagnosis and travels to Madrid for treatment. During a hospital visit, she broaches the subject of mysterious ghost sightings, specifically her mother, who vanished three years ago.
In an effort to distance herself from the haunting memories, Raimunda leaves Paula in Sole’s care and rents a van to dispose of the freezer by the river Júcar. During her stay at Sole’s apartment, Paula connects with the ghost of her grandmother, fostering a growing bond. When Agustina visits Raimunda at the restaurant, longstanding family secrets begin to spill out. Raimunda reveals shocking truths: her father had an affair with Agustina’s mother, resulting in the disappearance of Agustina's mother coinciding with their parents' tragic deaths.
Sole then shares with Raimunda that she too has witnessed their mother’s spirit, who is said to be in the next room with Paula. During their meeting, Irene clears up misunderstandings about her past; she confesses that she did not die in the fire but instead started it after discovering her husband with another woman, leading to a tragic series of events. The ashes presumed to belong to Irene were actually of Agustina's mother. Following the fire, Irene wandered for days, ultimately returning to care for Aunt Paula, who was unable to look after herself, unaware that the police would never come for her.
As the family's reunion unfolds at Aunt Paula's home, Irene reveals her presence to Agustina, who is startled yet overjoyed to see her mother. Irene vows to remain and care for Agustina through her illness, offering reparations for the past. Raimunda visits her mother, and together they embrace, making a heartfelt commitment to mend their fractured relationship, setting the stage for healing and reconciliation amidst their tangled family history.
