Aurora, a temperamental old woman suffering from gambling addiction, her Cape Verdean maid and Pilar, a neighbour devoted to social causes, live on the same floor of a Lisbon apartment building. When the old lady dies, the other two learn of an episode from her past: a tale of love and crime set in an Africa straight from the world of adventure films. In TABU, Gomes interprets and rearranges historical events: whilst the first part of his film portrays a society wallowing in nostalgia, the second part delivers everything they long for: melodrama, slapstick, juxtaposition and passion.