Linda, a stylish suburban wife and mom from Southern California, arrives in New York to spend a weekend with her brother Ray, a successful headhunter living in a grubby tenement who considers himself a free man, unencumbered by the responsibilities that weigh down his sister.

Recently, however, he got married to Teresa, a beautiful young Columbian who can’t speak a word of English. She performs Spanish-language phone sex for a living, which is fine for Ray, but Linda senses trouble: Feeling lonely and isolated because nobody understands her language or her culture, Teresa feels drawn to her old lover Luis, even though she loves her husband and the American life he represents. With her marriage deteriorating, Linda returns for two more visits to her brother’s. Eventually she allows herself to be charmed into an affair with one of Ray’s best friends, an ex-junkie …