"When I read Amélie Nothomb's novel," says the film's director François Ruggieri, "I immediately thought the story could be intensified if the film started at the end. First we discover that Prétextat Tach is dead, and then we tell his story backwards. I resorted to flashbacks because of the film’s double tale: the ongoing investigation into the suspected murderers and their motives, and the revelation of various aspects of the victim's life during his youth." Prétextat Tach is not only a famous and feted author, but has even won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Tach lives as a recluse in a huge, gloomy apartment. He has virtually hasn't seen anyone for years. When he learns that he's dying of cancer, he agrees to meet reporters in order to transmit his vision of things to mankind, to deliver his spiritual testament. The next day, he is found dead. Perhaps murdered. During the investigation, the police uncover some pretty racy details about the old ogre's past, but are they enough to incriminate the young reporter, Nina, who was the last person to see Tach alive?