18세기 아순시온의 스페인 장교 자마는 새 부임지로의 발령을 간절히 기다리지만, 왕의 전갈은 도착할 기미가 없다. 안토니오 디 베네데토의 원작 소설을 아르헨티나의 여성 거장 감독 루크레시아 마르텔이 영화로 옮긴 작품. 감독 특유의 시적 화면과 실존에 대한 성찰이 돋보인다.
Renee returns home one Saturday after giving an early morning piano lesson. She lives in the provinces with her husband Juan and their five year-old son Santi. Over breakfast, they discuss a possible move to Buenos Aires but rule it out after Juan provides a reasoned argument against it. He suggests a family trip to the beach. Renee proposes for Juan alone to take Santi to the beach while she takes her ailing mother Virginia to the country. The film bifurcates as the narrative alternates between the two excursions. Renee picks up Virginia at an assisted-living facility; they drive to a rustic cabin, sit by the fireplace and later take a walk in the forest. Juan and the inquisitive Santi travel further, to an almost empty beach, walk down a pier, build a castle out of sand, and meet two fishermen who entertain the boy with sea tales and teach him how to gut a fish.
