Southern Italy, in the past. An old peasant woman, the Creature, receives a mysterious visit from a Saint who instructs her to make a pilgrimage to an unknown destination. The Creature follows his voice and sets off carrying a heavy iron pickaxe. Before long, the cultured language of the Saint and the ignorance of the Creature create misunderstandings and incomprehension. The shaky path towards saintliness turns into a “way of the cross”, a tortuous journey during which episodes of deprivation, theft and violence are perpetrated by a rough, primitive people that the Creature meets along her away.