Esteban (Darin) is a shy taxidermist, made even more cynical and withdrawn by an unhappy marriage. He spends his time dreaming up heist schemes: hes convinced that he has all the skills required to execute a large robbery perfectly, so that the police will have no chance of catching him. One day, on a trip to the Patagonian forest, a hunting accident mixes him up in a world of criminals, and he gets a chance to live out his fantasies. He does have the skills he thought he had, but also some serious liabilities. He isn't used to guns or violence. Also, he has epilepsy, experiencing what he calls "the aura" shortly before each seizure, a confusing spell of time in which past and future seem to blend together. Esteban believes these are his moments of clarity: that they provide him with valuable insights. They also strike when least convenient.

Fabian Bielinsky's first film as director was the deliciously twisty story of con artists, Nueva Reinas (Nine Queens). His second (and unfortunately his last; he died of a heart attack last year) is not quite the same sort of thing: more brooding; and also, without monsters or gore, more like a horror film, with an air of dread that never allows us to feel quite safe.'