In the early 1980's a war raged between Sicilian mafia bosses over the heroin trade. Tommaso Buscetta, a made man, fled to Brazil to hide out. Back home, scores are being settled and Buscetta watches from afar as his sons and brother are killed in Palermo, knowing he may be next. Soon he's arrested and extradited back to Italy by the Brazilian police. Buscetta then makes a decision that will change everything for himself and the Mafia: he decides to betray the eternal vow he made to the Cosa Nostra, and talk.