In order to make some much-needed cash for himself, 65-year-old Portuguese prison inmate Eugenio impersonates a young woman and begins a romantic correspondence with a lonely Portuguese truck-driver living in Boston, convincing him that her tragic life has culminated in financial dire straits so he will send money. At first Eugenio's sister Idalina assists him in creating the character of Maria da Luz. Touched by her sweetness and apparent loving nature, the trucker willingly sends her money. When Idalina starts fearing they will be caught, she backs out of her arrangement with Eugenio who then convinces his young cellmate Vasco to help write the letters and even sends a picture of himself at age seven to "prove" that Maria has a young son. As prison life exacts an increasingly heavy toll upon Eugenio's health, his feminine alter-ego helps sustain him.
Canto e Castro
as Eugénio
Francisco Nascimento
as Vasco
Henrique Viana
as Abel
Zita Duarte
as Idalina
Rita Blanco
as Rute
Rogério Samora
as Warden
José Mora Ramos
as Chief Guard
Heitor Lourenço
as Guard #1
José Pinto
as Barbas
Fernando Heitor
as Paramedic
Catarina Furtado
as Visitor
Paulo Oom
as Porter
