Taboo

Bronx, New York, September, 1962. The only daughters of a schoolteacher (Lucio Marino) and his say-at-home wife (Gabriella Marino), both only sixteen, are Alessandra "Alessa" Marino and her twin sister, Elena. Alessa and Elena may be happy and bubbly when they're at school or relaxing with friends, but at home, things are not always as they seem. Lucio is frustrated with the lack of money coming from teaching high school Algebra, and the stress and anger has forced him to succumb to whiskey and beer. While drunk, he occasionally lashes out at Gabriella and his sons. The constant beatings force 17-year-old Salvatore Marino to drop out of school at the begining of senior year, suddenly taking a liking into 18-year-old Romano Marino's gang business. Things are bad, but when Alessa falls in love with a man her father hates and Elena falls in love with a colored man opposite her elder brothers' gang, things go from bad to worse quicker than the girls could have expected.