He then visits his daughter's empty house, leaves a stack of money saved from his jobs for her and disappears again. El Chivo captures both his client and his client's brother, and leaves them chained to the wall with a gun between them, their fate left undetermined. Throughout his story, El Chivo tries to make contact with his daughter, Maru, who believes he is dead. Sadly, while Chivo is away, the rescued dog who he has been caring for goes on to kill all of the other dogs in the house. El Chivo manages to save Octavio's wounded dog and takes it home to nurture it. He is in the area about to kill his client's brother when the car crash interrupts them. Hired by a man to kill his business partner he learns that the intended victim is his client's half-brother. It concerns an ex-private school teacher who becomes involved in guerrilla movements that leads him to be in jail for 20 years being then a man who lives mainly on the streets, looking after a large collection of mongrel dogs that follow him, but earning his money as a hitman. "El Chivo and Maru" stars Emilio Echevarría and Lourdes Echevarría. Once her leg is gone she realizes that her life is more than likely ruined since her sense of purpose, modeling, has been taken away from her. This forces the doctors to amputate, removing any chance she may have had at modeling. Valeria reinjures her leg trying to help the dog which causes it to grow infected. This becomes a growing source of tension for the couple, causing numerous fights which leads to doubts about their relationship on both sides. Valeria's dog disappears under the floorboards in her and Daniel's apartment one day and stays there for days. Unfortunately, Valeria is badly injured in the accident involving Octavio's car and therefore can no longer work as a model. Daniel is a successful magazine publisher who leaves his family to live with the supermodel Valeria. "Daniel and Valeria" stars Álvaro Guerrero and Goya Toledo. In the crash his best friend dies, while he is badly injured. While being fired at by his pursuers, Octavio finds himself in a car chase along with his lifelong friend, and the wounded dog. That is, until his dog Cofi (Coffee) is shot during a fight by the rival owner whom Octavio then stabs. Needing to make money so he and Susana can escape and start a life of their own, Octavio becomes involved in the business of dog-fighting.
Susana also has a story with him and so he tries to convince her to run away with him. However Octavio is in love with Susana, and doesn't like how his brother treats her.
"Octavio and Susana" stars Gael García Bernal and Vanessa Bauche as the title characters.
The film is constructed from three distinct stories linked by a car accident that brings the characters briefly together.