The lure of crime is never far away in the border region between Argentina and Bolivia, where Cabra lives with his mother. While his Chilean father (Alfredo Castro) is serving a long prison sentence, his mother is making plans to move to the more prosperous south of Argentina with her boyfriend. Cabra won’t hear of it. He lives for the malambo, the energetic, fiery dance of gauchos.
While Cabra is making final preparations for an important dance competition, his impulsive father, on short leave from prison, suddenly shows up, demanding all the attention of the family. Against the background of the chaos and excitement of carnival, Cabra is dragged deeper into the criminal world than he wants to, jeopardizing his own dreams for the future in the process. Malambo champion Martin Lopez Lacci plays an impressive lead role as a timid teenager showing his true self in the powerful dance.