A boy struggles against his stifling family life during the 1954 Guatemala coup.
This politically inspired drama represents Guatemala's first commercial feature film. Set in Guatemala, 1954, at the time a U.S. funded government overthrow of left-wing president Jacob Arbenz, it chronicles the struggles of a pre-adolescent boy to grow up in a tumultuous time. Neto, at the funeral of his uncle Ernesto is suddenly visited by his uncle's ghost. Their conversation becomes a flashback of six months earlier. The memory follows the changes wrought by the intervention of U.S. military and local troops as the coup begins. Neto's family's life is profoundly affected by the military action. Neto's father, a teacher, loses his job to military personnel. His classmates and their families begin to disappear. Neto and his family must flee their city. There is also conflict between his father and uncle, His father has always put his responsibility to his family ahead of all else and his uncle has wandered the world attempting to find himself. Neto has asthma and the women in his family smother him with concern.
