Marlene is a film inspired by Marlene Truscott, a housewife who fought to exonerate her husband from a crime he didn't commit. Marlene became involved in the fight for justice at a young age, when Steven was arrested at 14 and sentenced to be hung. When Steven was released from prison ten years later, she fell in love with him. Marlene's story is a story of hiding, living under an assumed name and protecting her children. He was free, but now she was in prison. Through it all Marlene was determined that Steven would get justice, that they would find light in the darkness, a darkness that buried the truth. Surrounded by boxes of files Marlene found a world of lies, cover-ups, and secrets.

Betty, a famous brasilian 'telenovelas' star, is in search of her twin sister Marlene, who vanished when the kids were four years old (Marlene is now a prostitute). Fragments of other stories, like that of an italian traveller Filippo who left in Italy Giuli, pregnant, and claims to have a split-personality, are inter-twined with the main one