Anna stabs her companion Damien. She is charged with attempted murder and does not deny the facts, but the case remains incomprehensible: Anna has no history of violence and gives no explanation for her actions.

Paris, France, December 1897. The young playwright Edmond Rostand feels like a failure. Inspiration has abandoned him. Married and father of two children, desperate and penniless, he persuades the great actor Constant Coquelin to perform the main role in his new play. But there is a problem: Coquelin wants to premiere it at Christmas and Edmond has not written a single word.