The news of a terrorist attack in Clermont-Ferrand in France catches Isadora and Médéric in bed. Médéric, a likeable, unassuming man in his mid-thirties, has fallen head over heels in love with the older, married sex worker Isadora. The attack brings their lovemaking at the Hotel de France to an abrupt end. The city is in turmoil. Sélim, a homeless young man of Arab origin, is given money and shelter by Médéric. But then the latter begins to suspect that Sélim might have been involved in the attack, and calls the police. In the meantime, Isadora’s husband turns up and starts to feel jealous. And so it is that Alain Guiraudie’s lively and sometimes turbulent carousel of characters begins to spin. Partly serious and partly satirical and witty in tone, this is a film about impossible love, the paranoia of society and neighbourly solidarity. Topics such as body image, age, religion and sexual orientation are also broached in a wonderfully casual way. The more individuals who come into play, the more unpredictable and surprising the plot becomes and, although it may sometimes veer towards the absurd, it always treats its unusual characters with a lot of love.