Ronny Kandiotis, a billionaire and art lover, is the guest of a major museum, on the occasion of a donation to France of two paintings, one by Gauguin and the other by Munch. The same evening, his daughter Lara, is kidnapped by a mysterious organization, which demands as ransom the publication of texts casting opprobrium on this supposedly virtuous man, while the media is already actively seizing the case.

Two sisters, aged 5 and 8, hang out alone at home in the middle of the countryside. Elsa, the youngest, swallows three grains of coarse salt. Judith announces to her that she’s doomed to a death by desiccation, and she only has a few hours to live. The mother returns, behaving ardently and feverishly, and turns the family's destiny upside down.