Nearly 13, Alice rebels, telling the Paris police that her mother is a murderer. Alice has no evidence; her mother, Eva, rich and powerful, avoids charges. Alice promptly runs away, determined to find her dad whom she claims lives in Portugal. The police believe he is dead and that Alice is in denial. Nonetheless, they dispatch Anita, an Italian police officer on loan to the French, to find Alice and bring her back. Meanwhile, Eva has launched her own paramilitary force to hunt for Alice, and Alice has found a protector in Hugo, an ex-soldier turned hit man and gang member. He promises to get her to her father. All roads lead to a small town on the Portuguese coast.

For years, Archie has been pining for Alice, the wife of his law partner, Sam. When Archie impulsively sends Alice an anonymous love note, she assumes it to be a playful gesture from her husband, and replies with her own unsigned letter. After Sam hides the note, Alice’s sister, Felicity, convinces her that he must be having an affair. As the extent of Sam’s infidelities becomes clear, Alice turns to Archie for support.

Best friends Deco (Lázaro Ramos) and Naldinho (Wagner Moura) co-own a cargo boat in Brazil’s Salvador de Bahia. They give a ride to a sultry prostitute named Karinna (Alice Braga), and soon both men fall prey to her considerable sexual charms, pushing the bonds of their friendship to the limit.

Alice Lantins is 38, ambitious and so committed to her work that she neglects her personal life. In short, she is the ideal candidate for the next editor of the magazine Rebelle, or would be were it not for the fact that she appears to be stuck in a rut. When Balthazar, a charming 20-year-old, crosses her path, her colleagues begin to see her in a whole new light…