Set in 1941 Sicily during Mussolini’s fascist regime, Malèna follows 13-year-old Renato Amoroso, who becomes obsessed with the town’s most beautiful woman, Malèna Scordia (Monica Bellucci). After her husband is presumed dead in the war, she descends into poverty and prostitution, becoming a victim of the town’s cruelty — and Renato’s silent witness to her tragedy.