Cesar (Noriega) is a smug, careless playboy endowed with youth, looks, and money. When he meets the stunning Sofia (Cruz) at a party, it's love at first sight, which infuriates the unbalanced Nuria, Cesar's paramour of the moment. After a wild car ride that ends with Nuria's death and the disfigurement of Cesar's face, he enters a bizarre, disorienting world of psychiatric affliction, despite having his looks restored by a new medical procedure. Is there an explanation for his frightening visions and behavior?

At the tender age of 25, Amenabar released the mind-bending "Eyes," later Americanized into the inferior "Vanilla Sky." A multilayered, nightmarish whodunit, the intense Noriega makes Cesar's psychic torture palpable, while Cruz personifies the ideal of feminine beauty — ephemeral, tantalizing, and just out of reach. This dark, boldly inventive film, accented with intriguing futuristic elements, keeps its audience engrossed and guessing until the very last frame.