The story unfolds in flashbacks, giving details of two relationships that become intertwined.
At a performance of Café Müller, a dance-theatre piece by Pina Bausch, Benigno Martín and Marco Zuluaga are seated next to each other. Benigno notices tears on Marco's face.
Marco is a journalist and travel writer who sees a TV interview with Lydia González, a famous matador. He thinks that an article about her would be interesting and contacts her. The news that she has broken up with her boyfriend "el Niño de Valencia", another matador, has been all over the tabloids. When Marco confesses that he is a journalist who knows nothing about bullfighting, she becomes angry and abruptly exits his car outside her house. He starts to drive off but stops when he hears a scream from inside her house. Lydia rushes out: Marco goes inside to kill a snake. They become friends and, later, lovers. One day, Lydia says that she has something important to say after the bullfight that afternoon, during which she is gored and becomes comatose. Marco remains by her side at the hospital and befriends Benigno, who recognizes him from the theatre. A doctor tells Marco that there is no reason to remain hopeful about Lydia.
Benigno is obsessed with Alicia Roncero, a beautiful dancer whom he watches practicing in the studio that he can see into from the apartment where he lives with his invalid mother. To care for her, he became a nurse and a beautician. After his mother dies, he finds the courage to talk to Alicia. When she enters her building, Benigno notices that it is also the office of Dr. Roncero, a psychiatrist. As a ruse to gain access to Alicia's apartment, Benigno makes an appointment to see the doctor, where he talks about the years he cared for his mother and says that he is lonely and a virgin. That night, Alicia is struck by a car and becomes comatose. In the hospital, where Benigno is assigned to care for her, he talks to her as if she were awake. He tells Marco that he should talk to Lydia because, even when in a coma, women understand men's problems. In response to Dr. Roncero's questioning, Benigno says that he is gay, presumably so that the doctor will not be suspicious of his intimate care of Alicia.
"El Niño de Valencia", whom Marco finds in Lydia's room one day, tells Marco that he and Lydia had reconciled, which she had planned to tell Marco before the goring incident. He also says that he should care for her now. Marco goes into Alicia's room and opens his heart to her. When Benigno appears, he tells Marco that he always thought Marco and Lydia would separate. A nurse expresses concern that Alicia has not had a period in two months and appears bloated. In the hospital parking lot, Benigno tells Marco of his desire to marry Alicia.
The hospital staff discover that Alicia is pregnant because she was raped. Further investigation reveals that her chart does not indicate her missed period. Benigno admits to falsifying the chart. Another orderly reports having overheard Benigno's conversation with Marco about wanting to marry Alicia.
Unaware of Alicia's pregnancy, Marco leaves for Jordan to write a travel book. Months later, he reads in a newspaper that Lydia died without awakening from her coma. When he calls the hospital to talk to Benigno, a nurse tells him that he is in prison for Alicia's rape. Benigno asks Marco to find out what has happened to her. Marco stays in Benigno's apartment, from which he sees Alicia in the dance studio doing rehab exercises with her teacher, Katrina, and he learns that Alicia had a stillborn baby.
Marco receives a voicemail from Benigno saying that he cannot live without Alicia. Marco rushes to the prison, where Benigno has left him a farewell letter: Marco visits his grave and tells him about the stillbirth and Alicia's recovery.
The film ends in the theatre where it began, with Alicia and Katrina sitting a few rows behind Marco at the dance performance. Marco is seen turning back to look at a smiling Alicia and, echoing a caption that had appeared for the couples "Marco y Lydia" and "Benigno y Alicia," the words “Marco y Alicia” appear on the screen.
