The uneventful middle-class life of Lebanese sisters Houwayda and Joëlle spirals into turmoil after Houwayda announces that she is accompanying Pierre, her Québecker husband, on a sabbatical year in France.
It is the early 20th century. A stranger arrives in the small, rural community and disrupts the lives of its inhabitants. The man, who refuses to give his name, is dubbed The Outlander. A traveller who disdains conventional behaviour and parochialism, The Outlander disturbs the villagers' complacency and scandalizes the community; he also elicits admiration and gains a woman's love. He ultimately leaves in the same manner he had arrived, but not before he has helped the villagers open their eyes to the larger world beyond their village.
As he prepares for his encounter with a new flame, a young man queries about how he will present himself. Suddenly, he is surrounded by embodiments of his different personality facets.
When her mother died, Geneviève went back to the village where she was born to sell off the house and return to Montreal. Her sister Manou, a pregnant teenager, refuses Genevieve's authority and leaves for the Île de Sable with her boyfriend.
