A journalist sets out to uncover the truth about the death of his colleague who was researching an American artist, Richard Upton Pickman. When he discovers the artist is in Santiago he goes to pay him a visit.

Michelsen, an older trucker who is lonely and sick, while traveling through Patagonia meets someone on the highway who reminds him of his daughter, whom he has not seen in years.

Amanda, a complaisant and lonely woman in her mid-four-ties, lives with Daniel, her sixteen-year-old son, in the mountains of southern Chile. Octavio, a friend of Daniel, is accidentally injured while hunting in the forest. Amanda takes over the healing sessions, developing an intimate bond between them. They discover that the contact with the wound produces an addictive pleasure.