Raised in a small French town by his single mother, a hairdresser named Jeanine, 10-year-old Martin is sent to live with Victor, his tyrannical father. Victor has a family of his own: a wife, Lucie, and three sons, Francois, Frederic, and Benjamin. Twelve years later, Martin remains scarred by his childhood. Having fled his father's home, he arrives in Paris and finds refuge with his half-brother Benjamin, now an actor, and Benjamin's violinist roommate, Alice. After achieving success as a model, Martin puts the moves on Alice, whose initial wariness blossoms into genuine love. But the sudden prospect of fatherhood reawakens Martin's repressed guilt about the death of his father, and Alice must fight to preserve his sanity.