Cristiano Di Nicola

A middle-aged man dissatisfied with the present state of things finds himself in a parallel universe where all technology is stuck in the 1990s.

In recent days, Rome has been the scene of an unusual event: when it rains, the manholes exhale a dense steam of unknown origin and composition. No one knows that those who breathe in the mysterious substance will have to deal with what they repress, their darkest instincts, their anger. Not even the Morel family. Since Cristina’s death in an accident a year earlier, the love of her husband Thomas and their son Enrico has given way to a forced cohabitation, while the youngest of the family, Barbara, would only like to see them united again as they were before. The accident could have been avoided, both Thomas and Enrico know it. Instead of taking responsibility and moving on, they stopped talking to each other. Now they are two souls full of rage, trapped in a Rome that resembles them: dark, nervous, on the verge of exploding.

A seventeen-year-old girl hasn’t left her room in an indefinite amount of time. Those like her call them hikikomori, they are teenagers who decide to build themselves a little prison, leaving the outside world outside the door. Her routine is broken when, online, she meets Dev, a boy ten years older. The two fall in love immediately.For her it is the first love. In order to meet Dev, she must leave that cage. But there is someone willing to do anything to prevent her from getting out of there.

Vincenzo is a scoundrel, a petty thief, and he wants to turn a corner. Here’s his brilliant idea: kidnap the dogs of the rich, who those to get them back are willing to pay any amount of money. The abductee’s name is Palla di Pelo, a beautiful Welsh Corgi who lives as if he were the Ferragnez’s son in the mansion of designer Paki Furlan, a haughty homosexual who treats the dog as if it were his own son. Vincenzo, is together with the only accomplice he can afford: his son Alfredo, whom he treats like a dog instead. They prepare the ransom letter, as in the movies: letters taken from the newspaper, no sender. The designer, as per the request of the mysterious kidnappers, shows up at the appointment with the fifty thousand euros in cash. Happy ending for everyone? Not at all, because we know very well that the most beastly beings are precisely men.

James wakes up in the middle of night after a nightmare regarding war and deaths.