Luzimar cycles each day to and from work at the local cotton mill in his hometown of Cataguases, Minas Gerais, Brazil. He is a hard-working man, trying to make the most of what he has. One day, his childhood friend Gildo reappears, driving a fancy car and boasting of his successful life in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo. As the two sit down for a beer, memories, regrets and old resentments slowly resurface... but at the root of all the tension is a painful childhood secret that needs be told. With cinematography by the inimitable Walter Carvalho (Central Station), Whirlpool has a rich visual style that gives an extraordinary depth of feeling to the story of this industrial town and its inhabitants.