Milan, Italy, 1967. Santo Russo, a boy of Calabrian origin, arrives north with his parents and younger brother to find better living conditions. Due to an absurd misunderstanding and his father's contempt, Santo ends up in prison, where he gets a “true education.” In 1978, he and his friends Slim and Mario embark on a 15-year criminal career, a successful and ruthless spiral of robberies, kidnappings, murders and heroin smuggling.

The life of Orlando, a gentle piano tuner, tormented by back pain, changes when he meets Olga, a charming physiotherapist, who diagnoses him with an emotional contracture and asks him to bring her a photo of himself as a young man, so that she can help him resolve his problems. The unusual request will push Orlando to travel and to relive, almost like a spectator, the events of his life that made him the solitary and contracted man he has become.

Perugia. The police are carrying away the body of a young woman when they hear a sigh: Rosa Lazar is still alive. The assistant district attorney Cristina Camponeschi and psychologist Stefano Mangiaboschi investigate, but Rosa seems unaware of the attack she has endured and hides the truth. For Cristina, the girl is the key to an international crime ring; for Stefano, the start of an inner journey that will lead him to reveal the true enigma of Rosa Lazar.