The Le Cloanec's are a family of four: mother, father, and adult children Olivier and Laure live in the suburbs, rubbing shoulders, hardly speaking to each other. The mother is an alcoholic, the father indifferent and distant, the brother and the sister each have occupations and their own lives. Manuela, the recently hired maid, is stirring up trouble in the house. The father chases after her, while Olivier thinks he's in love with her. Sister Laure watches the farce of her brother, father, and the maid, as her mother sinks deeper in alcoholic misery. Laure herself carries on an affair with a married professor at work. When Manuela abruptly quits and goes missing, Laure begins to speculate about Manuela's whereabouts, and does some sleuthing of her own. What she learns has devastating consequences (or does it?) for her family.