The juvenile court assigns nine-year-old Mario to the care of Giulia and Sandro, a childless couple in their forties. Used to a life of abuse, little Mario is now spoiled and pampered by his new parents. Meanwhile, Giulia finds joy as a mother, but Mario has trouble fitting into this new reality.

Questions around care and class are faced with frank open-mindedness in Antonio Capuano’s moving story of an unconventional family. Attentive to the complex social realities of modern-day Naples, Mario’s War makes space for the moments of fantasy and imagination that form a childhood.