In North Aires, Benny visits his long-lost brother Tetro (Vincent Gallo). Tetro's girlfriend, psychiatrist Miranda (Maribel Verdú), takes good care of Benny, but the emotionally disturbed Tetro is hot and cold towards his brother and forbids him to talk about anything related to the family. Benny finds Tetro's unfinished play manuscript, compiles it into a text, adds an ending and publishes it without authorization, which is praised by the literary critic "Alone" (Carmen Maura) who has a feud with Tetro. Furious, Tetro finally agrees to take his troupe to participate in the "Patagonia Theater Festival" held by "Alone", but disappears halfway. Family secrets, past love and hatred, are all about to explode under the spotlight. The film won the Spanish Film Writers Circle, the Spanish FotogramasdePlata Award and the Goya Award for Best Actress (Maribel Verdú).