On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.

A French family moves to a new neighborhood with during the summer holidays. The story follows a 10-year-old gender non-conforming child, Laure, who experiments with their gender presentation, adopting the name Mikäel.

Darling is a woman of today. It seems to always choose the wrong path. Suffers but does not look like a victim. Do not feel sorry for herself. On the contrary, shows a passion for life against all odds. She is struggling to exist. If you fall, get up. Because Darling is naive and fearless, brave and instinctive. Has the life force of a tragic heroine.

Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool's synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team? Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage sexuality with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.