A poor man from the North Zone of Rio, head of a family, Roy struggles in every way to survive and accepts a job as a professional laugher on a TV station; Casimiro de Abreu de Sousa lives in a fantasy world in which he imagines himself to be part of high society. His daughter's wedding awakens in Casimiro the desire to achieve everything he has always fantasized about.
In Nilópolis, Eliane, a 15-year-old girl, who is the daughter of a lower-middle-class couple, falls in love with Otávio, a 33-year-old divorcee. Upon learning of the relationship, Eliane's parents forbid her to meet her lover.