A bomb blows up in Milan and five people die. After only three hours Ravida, the chief of the Secret Service, knows the name of the killer and that of his chief.

The story of the first ever "anti-mafia judges pool" established in the '80s at the Palermo Courthouse, in Sicily, in the '80s, while two mafia families started a 10-year-long war to obtain the complete control of smuggles.

Michele criticizes the film industry and its inhabitants, and is particularly embattled with a Neapolitan director making a musical about the 1968 student demonstrations. At the same time, Michele has a creative block and struggles to finish his film titled "Freud’s Mother." Nanni Moretti’s self-inquiry into filmmaking, political ennui, and men’s relations with their mothers.

Mauro, a judge, is worried about his older sister Marta, who took care of him since he was a boy, and now suffers from mental illness and suicidal thoughts. She seems to recover from her depression when Mauro acquaints her with Giovanni, a brilliant actor at the edge of legality. However, Mauro becomes unconsciously jealous of their relationship.