Three long-standing friends, Olivier, Rémi and Pascale are now approaching their forties. The trio, along with their respective wives and husband, formed a clan a long time ago.
But the clan undergoes its first crisis. Olivier meets Stéphanie and believes he’s found the love of his life. Younger than he is, she gives him back a taste for life; things no longer seem quite so sad and dull. But then an aneurysmal rupture puts him out of action briefly and Stéphanie leaves him. He seeks help and friendship from Rémi and his wife Estelle.
Meanwhile Pascale reviews her life. Jean-Xavier, her husband is a weak man, a failed diplomat living in his famous grandfather’s shadow. He spends his nights writing a novel that will never see the light of day. Pascale leaves him for a politician. This breakup rouses Jean-Xavier, and, a better man for it, he finds warmth and understanding from Pascale’s friends. Rémi, a teacher and Estelle, a sculptor, lead a relatively peaceful existence compared to their friends. But their marriage is haunted by Estelle’s inability to have children and their desperate attempts to adopt one. Estelle is always receptive to others and even pushes Marianne, a new arrival at Rémi’s school, into Olivier’s arms.
Destinies clash and weave in a fractured narrative where there’s space for everything, from the most powerful feelings to childish laughing fits. This mosaic of characters bound by invincible friendship constantly makes us reflect upon our own feelings and petty cowardice that can instigate truly dramatic events.
It’s in speaking about the little nothings of life that we create appealing and powerful characters. It’s in speaking about the past that present makes sense. The story is told in flashback, a return to the past so as to light up the fragile, anxiety-ridden present.
