Romanzo Criminale

In 1970s Rome, four young delinquents—Ice (Il Freddo), Libano, Dandi Claudio Santamaria, and Grand—pull off a car theft that plunges them into a brutal night. They crash through a police roadblock, and Grand is crushed by the steering column. Back at a desolate caravan hideout near the coast, the police close in; Ice, Libano, and Dandi manage to flee, but Grand dies from his injuries, leaving a stark mark on the group and on each of them as they move forward into a harsher world.

Years later, in a Rome that feels both familiar and increasingly dangerous, Ice walks out of prison and reconnects with Libano, who unveils a plan to kidnap and ransom Baron Rosellini [Franco Interlenghi]. The aristocrat’s wealth could fund a much larger ambitions: a growing criminal empire. They assemble a gang that includes Dandi, and a constellation of figures—Nero, Bright Eye, Ricotta, Bufalo, Rat, and the Buffoni brothers, Ciro and Aldo. The ransom is set at 3 billion lire, and the Baron is shot by one of the Cannizzari brothers guarding him. Yet the job isn’t finished: the gang photographs the dead man with a newspaper to prove the killing and secure the money, laying a foundation for what comes next. Commissioner Scialoja [Stefano Accorsi] starts tracking the gang, recording the serial numbers of the ransom money, and plotting how to bring them down.

As the gang begins to divide the spoils, Lebanese proposes a bold split: 500 million lire for the core crew, and the rest to be reinvested in a sweeping criminal project across Rome. Their expansion runs ahead of the existing drug trade, which is controlled by the ruthless Terribile [Massimo Popolizio]. To consolidate power, the gang eliminates Terribile’s rivals and consolidates the drug line, with Gemito eventually pressed into service. After a raid that leaves Terribile vulnerable, the crime king wakes to find Ice, Libano, and Dandi intruding in his room. Cornered, Terribile reluctantly yields control of the racket to the new group.

With power growing, the gang’s influence expands into every corner of the city’s underworld. Dandi meets and is enchanted by an upscale prostitute, Patrizia [Anna Mouglalis], who is brought into the fold to keep him close and compliant, ensuring the gang’s grip remains unchallenged. Ice, meanwhile, falls for his younger brother Gigio’s tutor, Roberta [Jasmine Trinca], a romance that complicates loyalties within their ranks. To shield their relationship from the gang’s volatility, Patrizia is kept close, and Roberta becomes a symbol of what Ice is risking by staying involved.

As the romance deepens, Ice and Roberta begin learning English with dreams of leaving the life behind. The plan is narrowly foiled at Bologna’s train station, where an organized bombing—an ominous symbol of state collusion—casts a new shadow over everything. The personal and political collide, and the gang’s hold on the city seems more secure than ever, as they use fear and money to bend others to their will.

The tale takes a sharp turn when Lebanese is stabbed to death by Gemito after a bitter poker game, a blow that triggers Ice’s personal quest for vengeance. Ice, now driven by loss and a thirst for retribution, seeks justice with Dandi’s aid. Yet Scialoja remains relentless, closing in on Ice and gradually capturing most of the gang. Ice fights to escape from prison with the help of his friends, but the prison walls can’t shield him from the spiraling cycles of score-settling and betrayal that have infected every corner of their world.

In the end, the pursuit of power, money, and loyalty drives the survivors toward an inescapable reckoning. Scialoja’s relentless pursuit, the shifting alliances, and the violence that punctuates every victory reveal a Rome where the line between law and crime blurs, and where vengeance becomes a currency of its own. The story closes on a city still glamorous and dangerous, where the memory of a car theft in youth haunts the present, and where a new generation tries to navigate a criminal landscape that refuses to let go.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:33