Mimi Miceli is the son of an established Italian-American mafia family, led by The Padrone, who has been exiled to Sicily after his crimes in the United States. After the death of his wife soon after conceiving a son, Mimi aims to revive the family business in Los Angeles, targeting the city’s pimps and bookmakers to fund his takeover.
Mimi travels to Hollywood and enlists the help of his longtime mafioso ally, Jolly Rizzo, a bartender who becomes a trusted associate in his plans. Mimi shares a bold scheme: kidnap one of the West Coast mafia bosses, Chucky Tripoli, and hold him for ransom to generate the cash flow necessary to seize control. Chucky is abducted, and Mimi sends proof—a finger in a jewelry box—to Tripoli’s son Marco and wife Fanny (a detail note: Jo Mitchell, Duke Mitchell’s real-life wife, is referenced in the background of the tale). The response from the West Coast mafia is swift, and the stakes rise quickly as the power dynamics shift.
Mimi then attends Chucky’s daughter’s wedding and toasts in the name of Sicily, speaking on behalf of his mafia family. Chucky tolerates Mimi and even welcomes him into the West Coast circle since Chucky once served under the Padrone and owes a debt of loyalty. Amid these negotiations, Mimi begins a romantic relationship with Liz, a woman he meets at the wedding party, adding a personal entanglement to the power play unfolding around him.
Now embedded in the West Coast mafia, Mimi and Jolly witness growing tensions and fractures within the organization, particularly as Superspook, a newer and formidable pimp who runs a large operation between Hollywood and Beverly Hills, asserts himself as a power player. Jolly informs Mimi that Superspook’s influence surpasses the old bookmakers and pimps Mimi had initially targeted, a reality Mimi initially dismisses with his relentless motto: “Tonight we eat, tomorrow we shoot.” The path to power, Mimi believes, will be paved through decisive action and, if necessary, murder.
Back in Sicily, The Padrone expresses his disappointment with how Chucky handles the West Coast affiliate and notes that the Sons of Sicily Defense League does not represent most Sicilians. He orders his associate, Bones, to relay assassination targets to Chucky and to shake up Zantelli, signaling that the old order must be maintained even as new forces emerge.
Mimi and Jolly pivot toward a “legitimate business” — producing pornographic films — to launder influence and expand reach. While on set, the pair push for control over Superspook’s women, threatening him with consequences if he resists. Superspook refuses, arguing that police would intervene, and the standoff grows tense. The group resolves to bring Superspook down, and Liz warns that Chucky and the West Coast mafia may be setting Mimi up for a trap. In the ensuing violence, Mimi and Jolly murder lawyer Albert Lowenstein (a sequence later used in a theatrical trailer), as well as Zantelli and Marco Tripoli, inciting Chucky to send shooters after Jolly and Liz. In a brutal counterstrike, Mimi bombs Marco Tripoli’s funeral, killing Chucky and Fanny in a shocking escalation of vengeance.
With most of his aims achieved and allies falling away, Mimi returns to Sicily to reunite with his son and the Padrone. The elder mastermind questions what remains for Mimi in the “new world,” and muses on how the younger generation increasingly rejects the old code. The Padrone reveals a hard truth: he has raised Mimi’s son, who is calm, well-mannered, and unafraid of the changing order. The finale unfolds at a family gathering where the Padrone and Mimi’s son turn the tables, killing Mimi and closing a brutal chapter in a cycle of violence that has defined their lives.
