An ex-prostitute, Mamma Roma (Anna Magnani), tries to start a new life selling vegetables with her 16-year-old son Ettore. When Ettore later finds out that she was a prostitute, he succumbs to his dark side and stops doing his duties. He later carries out a petty theft of a radio in a hospital and goes to prison. Meanwhile, Mamma Roma is struggling to raise her son the best way possible and build a new life for both.