Synopsis
Sisters Justa (57), Lucia (50) and Luciana (47) are shepherds from the Colla ethnicity living in the Chilean altiplano and used to their solitude, which they share with their dogs and goats. Nevertheless, the Quispe sisters are currently worried because they haven’t seen any shepherds coming up to their hills as it usually happens every spring. On the other hand, the recent death of Maria, their oldest sister, gives them a feeling of abandonment.
Don Javier, a salesman from the city, brings them worrying news: a law from the government prohibits goat shepherding in the area. After Don Javier’s departure, Justa, Lucia and Luciana try to come back to their daily labor but their anxieties chase them: Will the police come and kill their animals? Will they stay alone in that place forever? Lucia and Luciana look to Justa for answers, but she doesn’t know what to do. The three of them feel their dead sister would give answers to their concerns.
While shepherding in the hills, Lucia and Luciana find Julio, a journalist looking for the route to Argentina. He’s escaping the dictatorial repression and travelling towards self-exile. His tales of police violence exacerbate Lucia’s fears. Luciana feels very attracted to Julio, but his lack of interest will evidence for her the end of her cycle as a woman.
Back in their hut, Luciana is depressed and falls ill. She has a high fever, which forces Justa to leave in seek of help, but the rain doesn’t let her go very far. When Luciana wakes up feeling better, Lucia is taking care of her and tells he about Justa’s fruitless expedition and how this made them talk about their lives. Justa and Lucia have made a decision: they want to die. Luciana cries in fear at first, but Lucia has her understand that all the shepherds have left and without Maria they can’t do anything. By dying, the four sisters will be able to be together again. Luciana accepts her destiny. Justa, in the meanwhile, prepares the rope they will use to hang themselves from a close rock.
Lucia and Luciana put their belongings in order, while Justa kills the goats. The three sisters check that everything is in order. Their hut is clean, their clothes are in boxes and the goats are dead and carefully piled up in the kitchen.
Justa, Lucia and Luciana walk together to the rock. They tie themselves and each other to the rope, and they also tie their dead dogs, so they can all be together in the afterlife. Justa, Lucia and Luciana throw themselves from the rock. Their bodies are the only point of color in this labyrinth of mountains and hills where the wind is the only resident.