The story of the 1986-87 "Maxi-trial" against Cosa Nostra in Palermo, Italy. Instructed by the Anti-Mafia pool, led by Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, the story of this historical process and of its exceptional numbers is recounted through the real images from court audiences enriched by reconstructions with fictional scenes.

In the late 1970s and early 80s, assassinations in Sicily get the attention of Communist deputy, Pio La Torre, who appeals to General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa to become prefect in Palermo and take on the Mafia. Dalla Chiesa approaches the job with the same focus and methods he used in hunting down the Red Brigade.