In what is widely considered to be his best film, Hermosillo focuses on the stifling world of the Mexican provincial bourgeoisie, where change can come only in the form of a fiery explosion. A young widow, Berenice (Martha Navarro), secretly steaming, "comes out" by embarking on a love affair that makes her the center of attention in her small town. Hermosillo deftly builds tension from the details of daily domestic life until, when the rumors about Berenice begin to flourish-from the suggestion that she frequents the red-light district wearing a black veil, to the accusation that she murdered her first husband-the tenor of her life is cruelly ruptured. Veteran actress Emma Roldan gives a marvelous performance as a crotchety old moneylender with whom Berenice lives.