We all dream about what we'll be in 15 years time… sometimes, it would be better not to know. In 1982, Vincent is 32-years-old, engaged to Laurie - without a doubt the woman of his dreams. His father wants him to take over the family store; a buddy and a cousin, Ronny and Lionel, want to become partners in the paper recycling business Vincent's had the idea of setting up. He has another acquaintance, Forsan, who he loathes because he's a spoiled rich kid rotten with money… and a pair of new shoes that pinch his feet that he's just bought from a salesgirl who was kind of cheap but pretty cute.
Vincent will remember this day in 1982 for the rest of his life. Laurie asks him to make up his mind, his father asks him to make up his mind, his friends ask him to make up his mind… even those who he hates ask him to decide. They want a response tomorrow. But Vincent has always been incapable of making the least decision and for someone who can never say "yes" or "no" it's a real ordeal. And to top it all, Germany has eliminated France from the semi-finals at the 1982 World Cup in Seville. Everything's going wrong. Vincent gets in his car, and because of his tight shoes, has an accident, crashing into a Morris column. When his head is about to hit the windscreen, a white balloon inflates, protecting him. An airbag, but they weren't around in 1982. He wonders what it is, just like he wonders who the 45-year-old woman to his right is when she asks him "are you okay, darling?" The same as he wonders who the 13 and 16-year-old kids in the back seat are when they ask "are you okay, Dad?" He leaps from his little Renault 5 in fright and discovers that it's a huge Mercedes. He flees, in a total panic, and finds himself amongst thousands of people shouting "and 1, and 2, and 3, zero," "we are the champions…" "Zidance for president!" He's been projected 16 years into the future, to that night in July, 1998, when the French football team carried off the World Cup. The guy who never wanted to make any decisions in his life is about to find out what he's become sixteen years later. Why is he married to the shoe salesgirl? Why has Laurie disappeared? Why has his friend Ronny become his chauffeur and gofer? Why hasn't his adored little cousin been in touch? Why does everyone tell him he's responsible for his father's death? Who is this powerful, authoritarian and dreaded CEO that he's become?
We all dream about what we'll be in 15 years time… Sometimes it's better not to know!
