In 1984
Naples, Fabietto Schisa enjoys a carefree adolescence with his close-knit family amidst eccentric relatives and friends. Their peace is shattered when his mother Maria's sister, Patrizia, faces abuse from her husband; his brother Marchino's acting dreams falter after a failed audition with
Federico Fellini; and Maria discovers Saverio's infidelity. Amid this turmoil,
Napoli's acquisition of
Diego Maradona brings hope and joy, especially for Fabietto, who finds solace in Maradona. Saverio and Maria reconcile, buying a villa in
Roccaraso for family vacations. They invite Fabietto for a weekend getaway, but he declines to attend a Napoli-Empoli match. Saverio and Maria die from a
carbon monoxide leak at the villa. The loss devastates the Schisa siblings, especially Fabietto, who is not allowed to see his parents' bodies. He grapples with
survivor's guilt but also gains a new perspective from his uncle Alfredo's belief that he was saved by "
the hand of God". In his grief and confusion, Fabietto searches for meaning and direction. Meanwhile, Patrizia is hospitalized in a
psychiatric facility. During Fabietto's visit, she shares her story: she became miraculously pregnant after an encounter with
Saint Gennaro and the "
munaciello", but her husband's subsequent abuse led to a
miscarriage. Feeling trapped, she chose hospitalization as an escape. This sparks Fabietto's desire to move to
Rome. He has his first sexual encounter with an elderly neighbor, Baroness Focale, who empathizes with his struggles. He also befriends Armando, a smuggler, delving into the world of Neapolitan crime. Fascinated by cinematography, inspired by film and by Yulia, an actress he meets at a street shoot in Naples, Fabietto dreams of studying it. Meanwhile, his relationships with Marchino and his sister Daniela sour: Marchino avoids the future, preferring to party, and Daniela reveals the existence of a boy born to a colleague with whom their father had a long affair. During a theatre performance by Yulia, director
Antonio Capuano harshly criticizes her from the audience. Afterward, Fabietto discusses with Capuano his desire to study cinema in Rome, but Capuano sees it as an attempt to escape pain and advises Fabietto not to flee Naples but to embrace its stories. Meanwhile, Napoli wins its first league title. Fabietto decides to go to Rome. On the train journey, he sees a "munaciello" at a desolate station, echoing his parents' affectionate whistle. ==Cast==