 Noronha (Lima Duarte) is a low middle-class civil servant who lives with his frustrated wife Gorda (Thelma Reston) and their three elder daughters. The youngest one, virginal Silene (Cristina Aché), is unexpectedly sent back home. Noronha discovers she has been expelled from boarding school for having killed a female cat and her seven newborns in a hysterical fit. Many dark family secrets will emerge from that episode leading to tragic events.