Marcelo is a twelve-year boy with an apparently vegetative life. Three years ago his mother Anna was killed in an accident and as a consequence the boy became reduced to a condition of semi-paralysis, detachment and silence which the other members of the family accept and are conformed with He lives in an impressive mansion in São Paulo where the story takes place. The boy's father and owner of the house, Marcelo Rondi has a dynamic and downright personality. A middle aged man he is a successful businessman with a considerable fortune and reputation. Little Marcelo is his only son, but he has a daughter from his first marriage, eighteen year old Berenice. During Marcelo and Berenice frequent absences, the house is run by the housekeeper Matilda. The film begins with Matilde interviewing young Anna, a candidate to the position of little Marcelo's nurse and nanny. Anna reveals an unpretentious demeanor and a peculiar beauty and takes over her functions with exceptional interest and zeal trying to penetrate the boy's universe. After a long and stressing business trip, Marcelo comes back accompanied by his girlfriend Ruth. At the beginning Marcelo is not impressed by Anna whom he considers discreet and competent. But he notices that the boy is getting involved with his nanny and that she has conquered Matilde's friendship. The contact between the boy and Anna grows at different levels and the reality and the dream coexist. but even so little Marcelo apparently found the peace he had before and sleeps quietly with the mother image is present... A close affinity with little Marcelo playing the role of an intermediate develops between Marcelo and Anna. Marcelo confesses to Anna his deepest feelings about his son and even a touch of envy of his son's bliss and placidity in contrast with his own lust for life. This is how a romance rises between them provoking Ruth's jealousy and Matilde's reproach. Notwithstanding, the attraction develops on and on along with the family conflict. The boy's universe is shaken by the relationship between Marcelo and Anna and a strange triangle begins.