Burgundy, France. Solange's 60th birthday celebrations are violently interrupted by her estranged brother, Bernard. His outburst will reawaken painful memories and reveal untold stories of the Algerian War.
Pauline, a devoted and generous home help nurse, raises her two children alone, while also looking after her father, a former steelworker. Taking advantage of her popularity, the directors of an extremist political party suggest she become their candidate at the mayoral elections.
Italian jeweller Matteo Belmonte and his wife Christine are robbed for the third time in the space of a few months. With Christine in danger, Matteo fires two shots. The robber Rufin dies at the feet of Romy, the couple's daughter. Self-defense or not, Matteo has to learn how to survive after killing a man in front of his traumatised family.
Clement, a young philosophy teacher, is sent to Arras for a year. He meets Jennifer, a pretty hair stylist, and the two freely share their hearts and bodies as they try to overcome the cultural and social divide between them.