The lively João Grilo and the sly Chicó are poor guys living in the hinterland who cheat a bunch of people in a small Northeast Brazil town. But when they die, they have to be judged by Christ, the Devil and the Virgin Mary, before they are admitted to paradise.

During a remake of the play Tristan and Isolde, actors Peter and Ana fall in love. While the characters live an idealized love, the interpreters are living a true story, which they try to spice it up with the intensity of the fiction.