The story revolves around the life of Leopold, a middle-class father; his wife Isabel working for a decadent comedian; Beto, the son, a taxi driver; and Martita, the daughter, a divorced and unemployed hairdresser. All live in 'harmony' in a 40 square-meter apartment. One day Leopoldo takes it upon himself to donate blood. The next day, he is summoned once more to the hospital. His life is about to change, and radically so.

At the end of the 19th century, a girl whom everyone considers ugly, becomes, over time, an insignificant woman, ignored by all. Yet she observes the world around her with a strange eagerness and finds signs of beauty everywhere she looks. Years later, a French photographer already married and with children arrives at her house. He will be the only person capable of seeing the beauty and the richness of her intense inner world.