Two neighbors, young Vincenzo and old Mr. Bartoloni, are utterly unhappy. On the one hand Vincenzo must lead a miserable and frustrating life as he cannot find any regular job, despite his Arts degree. On the other hand, Mr. Bartoloni is fed up with his despotic wife: the woman who used to be a beautiful artist is now a fat and shabby drunkard. The two men meet on a particularly sad night and, during an outburst Mr. Bartoloni asks Vincenzo to help him to get rid of his wife by simulating an accident with the promise of a considerable amount of money. At night Vincenzo can't sleep: Mr. Bartoloni wasn't joking and he is in a desperate need for money... One day, Mrs. Bartoloni is found dead for apparently accidental reasons. Walking up and down his now quiet and deserted flat, Mr. Bartoloni feels desperate. The money he kept hidden in a box has disappeared. His thoughts grow and become monsters ... finally he decides to denounce Vincenzo as the author of the crime. Vincenzo is arrested and taken to prison. There begins a confrontation between the young and the old man. Vincenzo declares he didn't kill the woman but seems too unmoved to be innocent. As for Mr. Bartoloni, the police finds out he had fallen in love with another woman and dreamt of getting married to her. The two men are both hopeless, desperate and lonely and are both suspected to be the author of the crime.