When her social-climbing father is relocated from a one-horse town to his native Rome, 12-year-old Caterina enrolls in his old school, finding herself adrift in an environment where eighth-graders form friendships based on social class and their parents' political affiliations.

A young pig slaughterer dreams of escaping from his suffocating life in the Italian countryside. In a moment of panic, he makes a break for the big city -- bringing along his girlfriend's teenage sister for the ride.