A wealthy retiree's pursuit of aesthetic perfection leads him to hire a private investigator's earnest young intern to follow an amateur model after he discovers her face in local copy of a Rossetti painting. The man and boy quickly bond and, with the help of a would-be pickup artist, quietly interject themselves into the life of the girl as she enters university, in a Montreal awash with student protests.

Montreal, 1940. The Second World War is raging in Europe. Pierre Sauvageau, 22, would like to enlist, but he has to take care of his twin sister, crippled from birth. This proximity awakens the sensuality of Berthe who tries to seduce her brother. Pierre rejects her advances, but when he falls in love with Marguerite, his best friend's girlfriend, he is haunted by the fantasy of his sister.