Police Commissioner Aurelio Zen receives the assignment he has always feared: he must go to Sicily, where he is to oversee the work of the recently established anti-Mafia unit of the state police at the behest of the Ministry of the Interior. Since the Ministry of the Interior is in rivalry with the state police, Aurelio Zen finds himself caught in the crossfire from the very beginning. To make matters worse, the commissioner’s private life also spirals out of control - Zen is pushed to his limits.