Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu writes and directs this drama portraying a father's love for his children amidst a life of poverty and crime in Barcelona. Javier Bardem stars as Uxbal, a black market trader, psychic medium and single father of two who learns that he has terminal cancer. Amid the grimy, lawless backstreets of the city, Uxbal battles the odds to find some kind of redemption and make arrangements for his two children and his estranged, mentally unstable wife, Marambra (Hanaa Bouchaib), after his death.