[2] The plot follows a cynical police officer, who comes from a family of thieves, and a lonely philosophy professor, both romantically involved with a self-destructive petty criminal.

His mother, Mireille is crying and his widower grandfather, Victor, tells the boy that his father, Ivan, is dead.

The next day, Alex, Justin's uncle and Ivan's little brother, arrives for the funeral accompanied by a woman, Juliette.

He begins with his encounter, a year before Ivan's death, when he first meets Juliette, who is brought to his office when she was arrested for shoplifting.

Ivan is a crime boss and runs a popular club with a drag revue, funding his business through a stolen-auto ring headed up by Jimmy, who is Juliette's brother.

The heist at the railway marshaling yard goes disastrously wrong when Ivan is shot dead, along with a security guard.

Emotional imbalance and self-destructive, Juliette tries to commit suicide twice, first while staying with her brother and later while visiting Marie, after Ivan's death.

Later Alex hears that Marie has committed suicide as he receives her manuscript and the tapes of Juliette's voice in the post.

[6] Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that "Téchiné involves us in a subtle, gradual process of discovery; each piece changes the relationship of the others.

"[6] In USA Today Mike Clark commented that in Thieves “Deneuve gives one of her best performances ever, though she's not exactly the movie's focus.

[7] The narrative — consisting of a prologue, five sections, and an epilogue — leaps around in time and switches between the viewpoints of Justin, Alex, Marie, and Juliette.

[2] The sound track includes an eclectic mix of artist and styles like : Cheb Mami, Liza Minnelli, The Archies and Mozart.

[10] The film was released on DVD on 4 March 2011 in the United States by Sony Pictures as a DVD-R manufactured on demand.