Four best friends take their book club to Italy for the fun girls' trip they never had. When things go off the rails and secrets are revealed, their relaxing vacation turns into a once-in-a-lifetime cross-country adventure.

One dark night during the early phases of WWII, the Italian Royal Navy submarine Cappellini sinks an armed merchant ship sailing with lights out. At that moment, its commander Salvatore Todaro makes a decision that was destined to go down in history: to save the 26 shipwrecked Belgians who otherwise would have drowned in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and disembark them at the nearest safe harbor. To make room for them on board his submarine, he is forced to navigate on the surface of the water for three days, visible to the enemy forces and endangering his life and that of his men.

Perennial university student Eva, who is still having difficulties at adjusting to big city life, takes up a job as dog sitter. After visiting the owner, she finds out the dog—Spotty—is actually Matteo, an introverted young man who copes with modern life by dressing up as a giant puppy.

Rosa is a young rebel girl who lives with her grandmother and her uncle in a remote part of Calabria, in Southernmost Italy. Her mother's untimely death when Rosa was a child casts a gloomy shadow on her present life.

Overwhelmed by motherhood, Ester steals a caravan and flees to southern Italy with her son David, with an intellectual disability. They meet a young drifter whose open heart transforms their makeshift family into something freer, lighter, and full of unexpected hope.

A small group of scientists, unreachable for eight months, explores the future of humanity. Maria Medri, a foreign genius, arrives in Antarctica, challenging Fulvio Cadorna's plans. They are similar but conflicting, as everyone desires their own. This scientific, ideological, and emotional conflict unfolds.