The Dombreval troupe is the last vestige of an outdated form of entertainment: the traveling theatre. Mireille is the director, strong, courageous, but overwhelmed by the hardships and financial difficulties. Full of dignity, she refuses negotiations and compromises, confronting the gendarmes with determination. The end is however near, Mireille is aware of it.
Proud, eccentric, and antisocial, Monsieur Hire has always kept to himself. But after a woman turns up dead in the Paris suburb where he lives, he feels drawn to a pretty young newcomer to town and discovers that his neighbors are only too ready to suspect the worst of him.