Rodolphe, a law graduate, has a menial job in a municipal library. He lives a simple life divided between his love for South American authors and his unspoken passion for his colleague Agnès. But she only goes for lousy love affairs and prefers to throw herself into the arms of men who humiliate her. Chance brings Rodolphe into contact with Aurore Langlois, a politician as ruthless as she is unscrupulous, willing to do anything to achieve her monstrous ambitions. Her latest pet project is François Guerambois, a 45-year-old deputy mayor who is determined to be a candidate for a ministerial position, no matter what it takes. And because everything is a matter of image, Aurore exerts herself to perfect Guerambois’s… and to use Rodolphe to achieve her aims.