 In Brazil s northeast, marauders from a big ranch raid a tannery and kill a girl s parents. Fifteen years later, the girl, Luzia, is a talented vacera who shows up at the ranch, bent on revenge, telling no one who she is. The domineering and hot-tempered rancher, Raulino, hires her, and sexual tensions immediately arise among Luzia, his younger brother Alexandre who is back from mining studies in the U.S., their imperious sister Tereza, Tereza s lover who is a political radical opposed to Raulino s land-grabbing, and the ranch foreman, the murderous Crapiúna. How Luzia navigates this charged landscape and how she handles her avenging resolve determine the outcome.