12-year-old Renato experiences three significant events on the same day: the beginning of the Second World War, getting a bike, and witnessing the arrival of the gorgeous Malèna. Through his eyes, we see the curse of beauty and loneliness of Malena, whose husband is presumed dead, and, through his soul, we see his love for her.

A shepherd from the mountains of a remote Asian region travels to Southern Italy, in love with what he saw on Italian television. There, he accidentally ends up in a holiday resort, where he's treated like a guest for a whole day, thus cementing his assumption that all the opulence and kindness he saw on TV were true.

A young professor travels to Budapest to locate a lost colleague. Once there, he gets tangled up in a supernatural mystery.

Deeply depressed Francesca is being treated by a psychiatrist to overcome her relationship with a man who also had a past relationship with Francesca's mother. After her mother dies in a strange accident, Francesca also disappears under mysterious circumstances.

Antonio and Amalia are the parents of Naomi, a 17-year-old who's having her first love affair. Convinced he has passed the most complicated phase of family management, Antonio thinks he can finally enjoy life in the company of his beautiful wife but his plans are spoiled by the news of not one but two unexpected pregnancies.

Everything revolves around a musical theater production staged by a modest Sicilian director who has to direct young inmates at the juvenile detention center in Nisida. However, the rehearsals, the performance at the San Carlo Theater in Naples, and the real and touching events of the city alternate without any consistency.