Starring Geraldine Chaplin as a foreign governess who comes to an isolated house to take care of the children of a twisted family.

[1] Ana, a young foreign governess, arrives at an isolated country estate in the arid region of Castile, near Madrid.

While Ana is unpacking, José, an uncle of the girls, introduces himself as the voice of order and authority in the family.

Juan, the father of the three girls, lusting after Ana, takes advantage of the situation to enter her bedroom.

Fernando, the most subdued of the three brothers, has moved out of the main house to establish his residence in a nearby cave where he practices mystical incantations in an effort to levitate.

Between bouts of epilepsy and gout, the ailing matriarch, Mama, remains the protectress of the family unit.

Recruited to help José with his museum when he shoots a flying bird to scare her, Ana is bemused and gives him a medal as a reward.

When it becomes apparent that Ana has been leading her sons on by sowing doubts in their minds and endangering the unity of the family, Mama orders that she be dismissed.

All three assault her: forcing her to the ground, Fernando cuts off her hair; Juan rapes her; and José puts a pistol to her head and shoots her.