The film follows a novelist, her ghost writer, and a wayward young woman as a chance encounter at a rest stop interrupts the delicate balance of their lives.

French actor Dominique Pinon received wide praise for his rare turn as the film's leading man.

The man bonds with the daughter and disappears with her for several hours... By the end of the movie, the plot threads come together and the audience identifies each of the three mysterious characters, as well as the role of the woman writer.

It was only on the eve of its Cannes debut that Lelouch took credit for directing the film, and revealed that the aforementioned Picard was merely his tennis coach.

The deception also mirrored one of the film's key story hooks, which involved one person taking public credit for another's writing, under the belief the actual creator would not be as well received.