Agathe runs an art gallery. Her husband François is a publisher. Together they have one son, and in every way seem to be the picture of normality — but emotions are stewing under the surface. All it takes is the arrival of a complete stranger for things to start unravelling. Patrick is brash, uncouth and totally unselfconscious...

Based on a novel that Albert Camus was working on when he died, we follow Jacques Comery as he travels back to Algeria in 1957, a place full of childhood memories. The country is split between those wanting to remain a part of France, and those demanding independence. Reminiscences of his mother, his stern grandmother and a young Arab boy come flooding back.

Amanda believes men are too complicated and has lost faith finding the perfect one. Her friend and a psychoanalyst have a plan how to make her fall in love. She insists that Amanda not stay home alone on New Year's Eve, and only gets her way after swearing that all the other guests will be couples, except for Maxime, a gay colleague. But Maxime leaves at the last minute to join his lover in Amsterdam, and Antoine, recently separated from his wife, arrives alone at the party.