 In the poor periphery of Rome of the 60 s, the despicable caftan Vittorio "Accattone" Cataldi (Franco Citti) is maintained by the hooker Maddalena (Silvana Corsini), spending the time with his useless idle friends. When the prostitute is arrested for perjury, the pimp "Accattone" has nobody to support him, but he seduces the naive worker Stella (Franca Pasut) and she becomes a prostitute. However, Accattone has a crush on Stella and decides to find a way to support her, with tragic consequences.