Samy, a young Franco-Algerian, hits a policeman at a roadblock and must flee France. He takes refuge with his grandfather in Algeria. But he does not speak the local language, and everything is strange to him, even members of his family: Nadia his cousin, a pregnant widow; and Qu'Issam another cousin, who was expelled from France, and hates everything French. Samy's grandfather lives in the memory of a piece of land that no longer produces any wealth. Samy will never give the reason for his presence, but the chaotic climate of the country will revive the chaos that is in him.

Temptation and danger run high in this romantic drama. In a post-World War I world, handsome veteran Antoine is ready to live life with his beautiful wife, Marianne. But his happiness is threatened when Marianne's alluring sister, Evelyn, pulls him into a seductive web of deceit and infidelity.

Marie Madeleine Dreux, Marquise of Brinvilliers, was executed in 1676 for poisoning. Manipulated by her lover and having kept the aftereffects of her childhood, she does not hesitate to poison her father and two brothers to recover their inheritance.