Matilde, Cencio, Fulvio and Mario form a family in the circus where they work as ‘freaks’ in 1943 Nazi-occupied Rome. Israel, the owner and putative father, disappears in an attempt to find an escape route overseas for them all. The four friends are in disarray. Without anyone looking after them but, above all, without the circus, they loose their womb and feel lost as rudderless sideshow attractions in a city at war.