A woman vanishes. Two men take to the road in search of her they both love her. Why did she leave Each one of them has his own suspicions, and hides them from the other one who—mysteriously—never truly becomes his rival. Neither is right—but is anyone This sudden runaway becomes the hidden core of a number of fictions that the film delicately weaves together the secret of the heart of another woman, lost as well, many years ago; the secret of the life of a village in the countryside, governed by a supernatural incident that nobody seems to perceive; the secret of the plains, which never ceases to spread and devour everything, like the shadows that invade the world after the twilight hour.
An insane man first loves then grows to hate his neighbor, an old man whose penetrating gaze unnerves the insane man. He plans a perfect crime and executes it one night. The next day, two officers knock on the insane man's door, investigating a shriek heard in the night. The insane man invites them in, answers their questions, and submits to an examination of his eyes by one of the officers, who proclaims him innocent. The insane man invites them to stay and relax awhile, then regales them with his theories of crime. His heart begins to beat louder. Angles on the set are skewed to suggest the man's internal disarray.
故事发生于1946年,战争结束了,伊万(约翰·萨维奇 John Savage 饰)从德军战俘营里得到了释放,返回家乡,这里的一切都改变了。伊万一直惦记着他的初恋情人玛利亚(娜塔莎·金斯基 Nastassja Kinski 饰),可此时的玛利亚已经有了男友埃尔(文森特·斯帕诺 Vincent Spano 饰)。伊万并不怪玛利亚,他只是感到难过。
某天夜里,伊万约玛利亚出来,两人终于解开了心结互诉衷肠,之后,玛利亚甩了埃尔,同伊万携手步入了婚姻的殿堂。战争创伤后遗症令伊万无法和玛利亚做爱,这让这对新婚燕尔的小夫妻感到无比郁闷,奇怪的是,当伊万来到瓦伊尼奇夫人(Anita Morris 饰)的床上时,他却又可以了。
热爱音乐的米格尔(安东尼·冈萨雷兹 Anthony Gonzalez 配音)不幸地出生在一个视音乐为洪水猛兽的大家庭之中,一家人只盼着米格尔快快长大,好继承家里传承了数代的制鞋产业。一年一度的亡灵节即将来临,每逢这一天,去世的亲人们的魂魄便可凭借着摆在祭坛上的照片返回现世和生者团圆。
在一场意外中,米格尔竟然穿越到了亡灵国度之中,在太阳升起之前,他必须得到一位亲人的祝福,否则就将会永远地留在这个世界里。米格尔决定去寻找已故的歌神德拉库斯(本杰明·布拉特 Benjamin Bratt 配音),因为他很有可能就是自己的祖父。途中,米格尔邂逅了落魄乐手埃克托(盖尔·加西亚·贝纳尔 Gael García Bernal 配音),也渐渐发现了德拉库斯隐藏已久的秘密。