Gloria is set against the backdrop of a rural landscape slowly disappearing in modern Portugal.

Many young people have moved out, leaving the children to be brought up by the elderly, including thirteen-year-old Glória and her friend Ivan.

Glória's life suddenly changes with the arrival of Vincente's younger brother, Mauro, who has just come out of prison and has some old issues to settle.

The two films share a common aesthetic, theme, and interconnected references, preserving, however, the different voice of each director.

The result were two films that are like the two sides of a same coin, Gloria a more feminine, in opposition to The Policewoman, which is more masculine.