阿马罗(盖尔·加西亚·贝纳尔 Gael García Bernal 饰)是一名年轻的神父,他被教会派往一个偏僻的小村子,帮助在那里传教的神父本尼托(Sancho Gracia 饰)。谁知道本尼托早已经放弃了对上帝的信仰,他利用自己的身份,参与了替毒贩洗黑钱的行动牟取暴利,与此同时,他和寡妇桑嘉娜里(Angélica Aragón 饰)一直保持着肉体关系。 桑嘉娜里的女儿艾米丽(安娜·克劳迪亚·塔兰康 Ana Claudia Talancón 饰)是一名虔诚的信徒,她常常找阿马罗忏悔,久而久之,两人之间竟然擦出了爱的火花。一场意外让本尼托的所作所为濒临曝光的边缘,与此同时,艾米丽告诉阿马罗自己怀孕了,她天真的希望阿马罗能够放弃神职娶自己为妻。Recently ordained a priest, 24-year-old Father Amaro is sent to a small parish church in Los Reyes, Mexico to assist the aging Father Benito in his daily work. Benito--for years a fixture in the church as well as the community--welcomes Father Amaro into a new life of unseen challenges. Upon arriving in Los Reyes, the ambitious Father Amaro meets Amelia, a beautiful 16-year-old girl whose religious devotion soon becomes helplessly entangles in a growing attraction to the new priest. Amelia is quickly following into the footsteps of her mother, Sanjuanera, who has been engaged in a long-time affair with Father Benito. Amaro soon discovers that corruption and the Church are old acquaintances in Los Reyes. Father Benito has been receiving financial help from the region's drug lord for the construction of a new health clinic. As well, another priest in the diocese, Father Natalio, is suspected of assisting guerilla troops in the highlands. Maenwhile, Amelia and Father Amaro have fallen in love and have begun a passionate sexual relationship. As things become increasingly more complicated in the small community, the walls around Father Amaro begin to crumble. Torn between the divine and the carnal, the righteous and the unjust, Father Amaro must summon his strength to choose which life he will lead.