In 1942 in occupied France, a Jewish refugee marries a soldier to escape deportation to Germany. Meanwhile a wealthy art student loses her first husband to a stray Resistance bullet; at the Liberation she meets an actor, gets pregnant, and marries him. Lena and Madeleine meet at their children's school in Lyon in 1952 and the intensity of their relationship strains both their marriages to the breaking point.

Miou-Miou
as Madeleine

Isabelle Huppert
as Lena Weber

Guy Marchand
as Michel Korski

Jean-Pierre Bacri
as Costa Segara

Robin Renucci
as Raymond

Patrick Bauchau
as Carlier

Jacques Alric
as Mr. Vernier

Jacqueline Doyen
as Mme Vernier

Saga Blanchard
as Sophie

Guillaume Le Guellec
as René