During the Napoleonic Wars in Spain two soldiers discover a strange manuscript in a deserted inn. The book tells the tale of one soldier’s ancestor, Captain Alfonso van Worden, an officer in the Walloon Guard who sets out on a journey through the treacherous Sierra Morena mountains.

His quest quickly spirals into a surreal, gothic, and picaresque odyssey. Van Worden repeatedly finds himself in the company of seductive Moorish princesses, a devious hermit, a wise Cabalist, and the shadow of the Spanish Inquisition.

The film is famous for its intricate, story-within-a-story-within-a-story narrative structure, where the characters he meets tell him their own astonishing tales, which often loop back and interlock with his own experiences.

A masterpiece of visual imagination and philosophical satire, the film is an intoxicating exploration of fate, reality, and the sheer joy of storytelling. It has achieved cult status globally.