A sunbaked Sicilian town in the summer of 1982 provides the vivid backdrop to this tender romantic drama about two teenagers who fall in love, but much to the disapproval of those around them. Gianni is a handsome but shy teen who works as a car mechanic at his stepfather’s garage but is mercilessly taunted by the macho townsmen for being a homosexual. With his family life no better, Gianni withdraws into himself until one day he meets Nino, a curly-haired boy with an infectious smile. As the two become close and fall in love, the moral rumblings from their families and neighbors begin to erupt. With all against them, the boys decide to make a stand.

When Vlada Koza, a mature Ukrainian woman, intrusive and caring, becomes a grandmother for the first time, she drops everything and travels to Sicily from her home in the Carpathian mountains to join her daughter... without warning! But the girl does not appreciate her mother's suffocating attention, so she puts her at the door without much hesitation. Thus, Vlada finds herself alone and penniless in the Sicilian hinterland. An unexpected car accident makes her become the unlikely governess of Don Fredo, boss of the Laganàs: a dysfunctional mafia family struggling to survive in the modern world. The irrepressible intrusiveness of Vlada, who loves feeling useful, taking care of others, fixing things and giving advice, seems to bring a hint of palpable well-being within the walls of Villa Laganà... At least until the day she finds out who Don Fredo and his children really are!

The life and times of Pippo Fava, a Sicilian journalist who fought the Mafia through his local newspaper in the '70s and early '80s, meeting an untimely end.