A small-town electrician with anger issues gets extreme therapy from a noted psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Peselowe, but is soon framed for a robbery and then a murder. Even with the help of Dr. Peselowe's female assistant Bonnie, he soon learns to trust no one but himself and becomes entrapped in a web of deceit, greed, and corruption.

Miguel is the perfect coyote: dedicated, single-minded, his record unblemished. His home is the winding path of the migrant: the back alley gravel, the crumbled pavement, and last - the river. Despite this perfect record, Miguel is no stranger to death. His nickname, "El Maldito" hints of what we will soon see for ourselves, for Miguel seems haunted by the dead and dying. He comes upon them on desert roads; he hears their confessions, and takes part in their dying wishes. Miguel's house, much like the man himself, stands alone; yellowed photographs breathe the sigh of a life given over to a singular purpose - crossing his people to a new life. There are signs that this quiet struggle is soon to break. When a terrible wreck draws Miguel to the roadside, the order of his life comes to ruin, for Elena, the wreck's lone survivor, recognizes Miguel.