The inhabitants of Praxos, a mountain village in an occupied country, organize their own resistance to the oppressor. Faced with reprisals, they decide that every hour a man will cross the bridge that is the population's only supply route. The action, which results in the death of all those taking part, continues until dawn on the third day.

Using the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.