Fred Bonnemaison, a driven and self-centered Parisian food writer has to return to his home town, Lyon, when his mother, a lively octogenarian, runs away to join a community of free-thinking widows.

Based on a novel that Albert Camus was working on when he died, we follow Jacques Comery as he travels back to Algeria in 1957, a place full of childhood memories. The country is split between those wanting to remain a part of France, and those demanding independence. Reminiscences of his mother, his stern grandmother and a young Arab boy come flooding back.

Four young men try to gate crash a birthday party.