"Five Years, Four Months" is a feature drama that evolved from research into the experiences of Colombian mothers seeking sons lost during armed conflict. The narrative follows Martha and Sandra, two women at different stages of their desperate quests, as they journey to a remote village said to grant one wish to the living, searching for answers about their disappeared family members.

The directors deliberately blended established actors with real-life mothers from their research phase to achieve emotional authenticity while preserving narrative complexity. The film's central focus examines the psychological weight of prolonged uncertainty—the painful limbo of not knowing whether missing relatives are dead or might someday reappear—drawing from actual accounts of mothers in a Colombian town who have given unclaimed bodies proper burials and memorial recognition.