In a small Sicilian town, Peppino (Aldo Puglisi) finds himself in hot water after impregnating his fiancée's teenage sister, Agnese (Stefania Sandrelli). Knowing his family will be shunned if his daughter has a child out of wedlock, the girls' father, Vincenzo (Saro Urzì), insists Peppino marry Agnese and make her an honest woman. But when Peppino refuses on the grounds that she is no longer chaste, Vincenzo is willing to take drastic actions to restore his family's name.