GRACE (40) is a scientist working at the Exousia Foundation in Italy.
GIOVANNI (75), her supervisor, summons her and informs her of the death of her colleague XIU CHEN (60), whose camp in Costa Rica was raided and burned down, and whose computer has disappeared. Grace is forced to travel to Costa Rica to recover the research documents belonging to her colleague.
Xiu had been studying plants capable of tolerating high levels of CO₂. Once in Costa Rica, Grace meets SANTIAGO (25), a young local man who had worked as Professor Xiu’s assistant. Grace gains his trust, and Santiago takes her to an island, where Xiu had secretly set up a laboratory and was conducting experiments and research on plants without the Foundation’s knowledge.
Grace has a daughter, who appears to her in a dream with extraordinarily long legs—far longer than could possibly exist in reality. The dream inspires Grace to return to the island in search of a particular plant with very long leaves. She finds it, and she and Santiago collect several specimens.
Back in the city, they notice a car following them. Frightened, Grace is forced to flee. She boards the first available flight back to Italy, taking the plant specimens with her.
Once back in Italy, Grace seeks out ALESSANDRO PORPORA (40), a longtime university friend and Professor of Biology at the University of Milano-Bicocca. Alessandro agrees to help her and gives her access to his laboratories.
Meanwhile, Giovanni introduces Grace to TILDA (60), the head of a major multinational corporation. When Tilda hints at Xiu’s research and the possibility of developing it commercially, Grace becomes suspicious.
Giovanni reveals that he knows about the research Grace is conducting with Alessandro and bluntly tells her that she must hurry to deliver Xiu’s research to him. He suggests moving the research to the greenhouse at his Villa del Grumello on Lake Como. Grace is caught off guard. Giovanni explains that enormous interests are at stake and that Grace needs to be protected.
In this complicated and dangerous situation, the person Grace appears to trust completely is SIMONE (25), a brilliant computer engineer. Xiu’s computer, which has been recovered, is handed over to Simone. Grace asks him to help her hide Xiu Chen’s secret research online, storing it securely in the cloud.
Grace removes the plants from the university and takes them to Giovanni’s villa. But when she arrives, she finds Giovanni dead, apparently from a heart attack. Grace is devastated.
On the day of Giovanni’s funeral, Grace is approached by Tilda. They want the results of Xiu Chen’s research.
Grace secretly returns to the greenhouse at Giovanni’s villa. There, she begins to understand the true meaning of Xiu’s research: he had been making progress in establishing communication with certain plant species, attempting to decipher their language that could hold the key to saving the planet.