Esteban leaves Algeria to go to work in England. In Manche, the boatmen throw him to the water. He is saved by Raphaëlle who accommodates him.
This charitable impulse slides. The welcome is made confinement. Esteban, trapped between this reassuring comfort and his fear of restarting, agrees to become the marionette of Raphaëlle.
In a mirror effect, she makes masculine and he disguises until become his sexual object. Their couple settles down in a diverting balance, but Joseph's jealousy, foster father's figure, developing an attraction for Raphaëlle, leads them on more and more abrupt pieces. Finally, they reach together a ultimate and macabre highlight.