A sprawling drama centered on five key days in a family's life.

At the funeral of their best friend Mathieu (40 years old), four boys and three girls meet for the first time. They are between 22 and 26 years old, all knew Mathieu separately, and each of them thought he was his only friend.

The film is based on real events be tween the years 1978-1980. Theo Grangier, a man without education, with no parents nor family, is involved in the robbery along with two recidivists. But the policeman is killed during a robbery. But Theo is the only one who is arrested and charged with murdering an officer of laws, even though the other two perpetrators are not found and Theo is not conclusively proved to be a murderer. He is later sentenced to death. The trial galvanizes the French society - Jean-Paul Sartre comes out publicly in favor of Theo Grunge...

It's 1832, 22-year-old Raphaël's gambling has driven him to the brink of suicide. As he is about to throw himself in the Seine, a shopkeeper offers him something: a mysterious "skin of sorrow", which will grant all his wishes, but in doing so will shrink his remaining time on earth.