As she struggles to cope with the loss of her older sister, Essie finds herself alone with her father. In the lake that borders the family home, she discovers a mysterious mermaid, which feeds only on gasoline.

Abbé Donato believed he could live a quiet little life, far from all temptation, in the village of Sainte-Urulle, well placed in the race for the title of asshole of the civilized world. For temptation is something he would do well to be wary of, he who, beneath his cassock, hides a body made for the pleasures of love. Pleasures that the Baroness de Bailleux, a young nymphomaniac aristocrat, has nevertheless decided to introduce him to. Having fallen under her spell, the clergyman discovers that she is also the muse of a Satanist priest who officiates in a neighboring town, Canon Debruges, and, incidentally, the mistress of a psychiatrist who is a member of the Gilles de Rais fan club. Having become the baroness and the canon's plaything, the abbot enters a downward spiral that will take him to the limits of morality and even madness.

In her fifties, jobless and lonely, Rosa has lost her self-esteem. Her life takes a new turn when she decides to give a ball to her young neighbour, who keeps losing his. To thank her, his parents invite her over unexpectedly and proudly announce that their child has just appeared in a TV advert.