Nothing makes much sense about parents and family to 14 year old Nina (Chiara Passarelli). In school, her teacher, Alberto (Michele Placido), is having his own problems with his son, Gigio (Andrea Fachinetti), who wants to take part in a reality show.
To get insight into how young people really think, the Teacher asks Nina and her class to write an essay on "Parents and Children - Instructions For Use." Unsure at first, Nina gets inspired and tells everything about her fractured family.
The audience lives in Nina’s world as we see the separation of her parents – Luisa (Luciana Littizzetto) and Gianni (Silvio Orlando); Nina’s troubled and angry little brother Ettore (Matteo Amata); her mysterious Grandmother (Piera Degli Esposti), and most of all Nina’s own struggles with family, friends and first love.
Nina’s life intersects her Teacher’s when, by chance, she and the teacher’s son, Gigio, meet during one long evening.
Over time, Nina’s life begins to get on course and, through her essay, the Teacher and his wife Rosanna (Margherita Buy) make their own discoveries about themselves and about parenting.