Roma: Golpe Capitale (Rome: Capital Coup) tells the behind-the-scenes story of the hostilities, power relations, and hidden interests that Ignazio Marino, a prominent professor of surgery and former Senator of the Italian Republic, faced as head of the Eternal City. The film traces the events that led to Marino's election on a platform of transparency, meritocracy, and financial responsibility, radical novelties in Roman city government. It also chronicles his battle against criminal elements long present in the city administration (‘Mafia Capitale’) and the relentless political and media campaigns mounted to hobble and humiliate an outsider mayor – a ‘Martian’ – who was inconvenient to business as usual.