In 1980s Rio de Janeiro, Maria Cecilia, the virgin 17-year-old daughter of wealthy, powerful Dr. Werneck, is raped by five black men when her car has engine trouble near an isolated junkyard. Her upperclass family decides that she needs to get married, and Werneck assigns his partner Peixoto to find her a fiance among the family's company's employees. Peixoto selects Edgard, a simple single man, and offers him an unusual proposal: if he marries Maria Cecília, he will receive a huge amount, as a gift or dowry. However, Edgard has a crush on his neighbor Ritinha and has his own moral principles. An inner fight between greed and moral values divides Edgard, while revelations about Ritinha, Maria Cecilia, and Peixoto are disclosed to him, ending in a tragedy.