Delsa does her work as a sewer in a garments factory where even the visits to the comfort room is regulated. Her husband and child passed away in a traumatic stampede some years ago and she now lives alone in a small room in a squatter's area in Quezon City. Her routine is to wake up each morning, go to work, come home, make rags out of pieces of cloth she gets from the factory, cry over the loss of her family, and open her door to her neighbor Lena who runs to her every time she is beaten by her husband Ray-an Dulay. Lena is a former dancer who does laundry to earn a living for her husband and herself. She understands that her husband Ray-an has been trying to find a job but he seems to be running out on luck. This misfortune hits Lena too as she becomes an outlet for Ray-an's frustrations. Lena is abused as a wife, both sexually and physically. Delsa and Lena live in a compound composed of frustrated, desperate, angry city dwellers jaded by the harshness of urban living. They are trapped in the oppressive states of their work and family lives. Retaso is the story of two women who think that together they can be strong enough to escape everything. But only when the two become one, can they truly be free...