At a maximum security prison, there is preparation for the annual party where entertainers and strippers are scheduled to perform. But not everyone is having fun. A man is sent to solitary, his wife has a nervous breakdown, and a convict prepares to make a daring escape.

Sucre Amer tells the story of a unique court case in which an event from the past is judged by a court of history. Major figures from history are brought together in the present to re-examine the "Ignace case", about a legendary figure in the history of Guadeloupe who fought against the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte to preserve his freedom. A hero despite himself, Ignace's life and struggle were subsequently consigned to oblivion by his enemies. His treatment has left a bittersweet taste in the mouths of the people of Guadeloupe.

A psychotic man and an obsessed police officer make life unbearable for an unlucky actor by making him the scapegoat for a string of kidnappings.

The filmmaker adapts "De mémoire incomplète", one of her own short stories, into a film that portrays the encounter of two people wounded by the past and by history, over the course of a day and a night on a street in Montreal. Past, present, imagination, and reality intertwine in the subjective vision of its protagonist, Ana María, as the Canadian city becomes a dreamlike landscape.