[3] Adrien (François Cluzet), a tough-loving writer who has had only marginal commercial success as a bestselling author, discovers that he is dying and tells his friend Gabriel (Mathieu Amalric), with whom he has had a tumultuous relationship.

Gabriel tries to attend to his friend while making sense of his complicated romantic life, torn between his former girlfriend, dependable Jenny (Jeanne Balibar), and a new lover, mercurial Anne (Virginie Ledoyen).

Unlike Adrien, conflicted Gabriel is not a risk-taker: his career path as an editor at a publishing house is steady and secure.

His older friend attempts to write his greatest book and begins a quiet relationship with a curious student, Véra (Mia Hansen-Løve).

The ensemble and Adrien's other friends find it difficult to assess their lives and careers in the wake of their dying friend's revelation, soon realizing there’s necessary friction in passion and that compassion for one another (com-passion etymologically meaning “com” as in “all” or “together” combined with “passion”) may actually be the sweetest pleasure.