In the 16th century, ambitious Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan (Gael García Bernal) rebels against the King of Portugal, who rejects his vision of circumnavigating the globe. Securing Spanish backing, he marries Beatriz Barbosa (Ângela Azevedo) in Seville for a fleeting union before embarking on his perilous 1519 voyage, which culminates in his death during the conquest of the Philippines. Lav Diaz's epic critiques the illusions and horrors of European colonialism, interweaving Magellan's story with that of his enslaved Malaysian interpreter, Enrique (Amado Arjay Babon).