Messalina was the Roman noblewoman who inveigled ageing emperor Claudio into marriage. Once ensconced on the throne, Messalina launched a reign of terror that shook the empire to its very foundations. The subject of countless film treatments, Rome's most villified empress is herein played by British actress Belinda Lee.

A judge investigating police corruption finds that the deeper he digs, the more roadblocks he finds.

Luisa Latin, betrayed by her husband, is imprisoned for the murder of her husband's mistress - who is still alive. When Luisa is released from prison, she kills her.

An Italian prison official's wife is kidnapped, and the kidnappers demand that a notorious prisoner be released in order for the man to get his wife back. He gets the man released - but then kidnaps him himself, in order to ensure that the man's colleagues don't kill his wife. Enraged, the gang sets out to free their compatriot and kill the man who took him.

Cesare Settembre is a twenty-six year old studying law to follow in the footsteps of his lawyer father. On the eve of his last exam, Cesare falls ill with depression and begins to remain secluded at home, completely deprived of strength. The only person to try to help him is his friend Antonio, while his mother seems more concerned with taking care of the strange plant she keeps in her room, his father is only interested in his son's university career. To find a purpose in life, Cesare falls in love with Milena, Antonio's girlfriend, but in the meantime his family falls into chaos.

Over a long weekend, a group of friends gathers together, a diverse representation of the last twenty-five years of the Italian left. Some of them haven't seen each other in a long time; the occasion is the release from prison of a former friend and comrade, accused of killing a judge in the 1980s. Roberto Ferro is on parole and wants to know which of his former comrades reported him. Among the friends, some have achieved privileged positions; others, like Nanni and Malena, have adapted to a more modest life and have retained, at least in part, the ideals of their youth. Malena, an Argentine exile who experienced torture at the hands of the military, had a love affair with Roberto and, before that, a strong bond with a disappeared comrade. Roberto's return reignites personal and political conflicts within the group.

Determined to survive at any price, Edith, a young Jewish woman deported to an extermination camp, manages to survive by accepting the role of kapo, a privileged prisoner whose mission is to ruthlessly guard other prisoners.

A deeply disturbed and epileptic young man benignly decides to murder other members of his dysfunctional family for altruistic reasons.

Francesca has a serious problem: her grandson Alessandro. After the death of his parents, she has been a mother and also a father to him. But now that he is 27 years old, Alessandro cannot seem to find his place in the world.

When an old lady dies two hours before her life insurance expires, the insurance lawyer suspects something dubious. He begins to investigate and he becomes the lover of the old lady's daughter...