Rebecca is an architect who rehabilitates old factories. Work is the most important and precious thing to her. Trapped in the fear of not being able to move forward with her projects, held back and destabilized by certain people, Rebecca continues to find her way, but gradually descends into paranoia and violence.

Alice and Edgar, nicknamed "The Captain", lead a rather miserable existence. They are embittered by life and reject each other's failures.

Gabriel Axel's penetrating study of the aftermath of a crime. Bernard and Catherine lead a quiet life in retirement, enjoying their occasional sorties to the theatre or the cinema. One night, coming home on the Metro, they are jostled and jeered by a group of young hooligans who follow them out on to the street. Catherine dies. And Bernard, left alone, begins to question all the values he had previously taken for granted.

Based on the short story by Michel Tournier