Rennes, nowadays. Saïd still lives with his parents. He is having a secret affair with Vincent. Unable to face his family, he agrees to an arranged marriage with Hadjira. After an unhappy love affair and a few run-ins with the law, she too has resigned herself to obeying her mother. Trapped by their families, Saïd and Hadjira join forces in spite of themselves, to find their own freedom.
1947. On a beach, Madeleine, a waitress in a hotel restaurant, mother of a little boy, meets François, a rich and cultivated student. The force of attraction that pushes them towards each other is commensurate with the secrecy that each carries. If we know what Madeleine wants to leave behind by following this young man, we discover over time, what François is desperately trying to flee by mixing Madeleine's fate with his.
