Two lifelong best friends spend a weekend at a secluded cabin. Through intimate conversations and silent moments, they explore their deep understanding of each other's personalities and desires.

An aeronautical engineer in his forties, passionate about his job, nevertheless opts for a well-compensated year of unemployment as a sabbatical. What happens when city space and time are no longer defined by employment? Where are the wonderful projects? Where are the intimate resources?

In this whimsical fable, Resnais deftly interweaves three story lines: the creation of an early-20th-century utopia; romantic high jinks at a school conference; and a fantasy sparked by F/X pioneer Georges Méliès.