El mundo de afuera (The Outside World) takes place in Medellín. There, time is wrapped in a mist, and voices seem like whistles that get lost among tree branches. A castle-like structure stands watch in the overgrown outskirts of the city, and a blond girl runs out the door. Eyes watch, captivated by this unusual presence, and the girl disappears into the forest. It is 1971, and this girl's father, don Diego, has been kidnapped. El Mono is the leader...

Fernando returns home after a prolonged absence to attend to his most beloved brother, Dario, an AIDS patient whose health is slowly deteriorating owing to his alcohol and marijuana use. Vallejo indulges in digressions into past memories that they both share, which include endless adolescent partying and homosexual love affairs. La Muerte (Death), the character around whom the narrative ultimately revolves, appears throughout, touching different members...

Two thirteen-year-old boys, blood brothers and best friends, get drawn into a dangerous, violent world on the streets of a troubled Colombian city.