Set along the Apulian coast during the summer of 1980—against the tense backdrop of real-world Italian tragedies (the Ustica plane crash and the Bologna massacre)—14-year-old Martino (Luigi Ciardo) spends his days surfing and navigating a distant relationship with his emotionally detached father. His routine changes when he meets Captain Clark Owens (Treat Williams), an American military officer stationed at a nearby NATO base. Clark, haunted by personal grief, takes Martino under his wing and teaches him how to surf, developing a surrogate father-son bond. Meanwhile, Martino experiences his first romantic awakening with Silvia (Matilde Maggio), the girlfriend of his older brother Andrea (Simone Borrelli), leading to hidden tensions within his family during a summer marked by national anxiety and personal transition.