Suzanne (Kristin Scott Thomas), is a well-to-do married woman and mother of two in the south of France.

When Suzanne meets Ivan (Sergi López), a Spanish ex-con hired to do the building, their mutual attraction is sudden and violent.

She finally decides to give up everything and live to the fullest her all-engulfing passion for Ivan, but her husband will not let go of her and her daughter rejects her, although her son stays connected to her.

The new couple soon faces severe financial problems, some of them caused by Samuel: when Suzanne's credit card is rejected, she is forced to sell her Cartier watch at a gas station.

After driving through the night, she is eventually reunited with Ivan at the ruined house in the hills they had once dreamt of restoring.