We follow the story of Mathieu, a Parisian film star nearing fifty, who suddenly bails out of a much-anticipated stage debut, overcome by panic and self-doubt as he fears he will completely bomb and damage his image.

Seeking solace, he retreats to a spa resort on the windswept coast of Brittany. There, he hopes the peaceful off-season surroundings and spa treatments will help him escape both his professional pressures and personal anxieties.

Mathieu is married to a high-profile Parisian TV News Anchor - successful and busy, but strikingly distant from his emotional crisis. She did not join him for his thalassotherapy. Instead, she urges pragmatism: viewing his breakdown as a consequence of his own choices.

As a “power couple”, they represent a polished public image. However, beneath the facade, the marriage feels transactional - anchored in lifestyle rather than intimacy, emphasising the gulf between appearances and inner emotion.

The wife represents the life Mathieu has built: fame, stability, recognition, but also pressure and disconnection. Her professional success and unsympathetic stand underscore Mathieu’s growing disillusionment. Rather than a source of comfort, Mathieu’s relationship with his wife becomes a pivot point, illustrating the life he chose and most likely regrets. He is more emotionally attached to her than she is to him, as she barely gives him the time of day when he rushes to his phone when she can be bothered reaching out.

His seeking an exit from Paris through his Brittany gateway is a symbol of his desire to leave the fakery of his world for some wholesome authenticity. Ultimately, his couple's separation, despite his withdrawal syndrome, is a consequence of what she represents. It is part of his existential crisis with authenticity, as he is not as cold and calculated as the world he inhabits.

By chance, Mathieu runs into Alice, his former lover from fifteen years ago. She is now a piano teacher, settled in the same seaside town with a husband and daughter. What begins as an awkward, polite catch-up quickly ripens into a deeply intimate reconnection. Their long-buried feelings resurface, and their conversations make clear how his past abandonment left her emotionally scarred.

Her relationship with her husband appears to be the foundation of a calm and orderly life. Her husband is the typical French countryside Doctor, kind, stable, and present. The Good Egg is a reliable partner and father, offering a lifestyle that surpasses what she could achieve through her profession. However, the relationship feels restrained; there is no apparent conflict or cruelty, but also little to no spark. What people would usually call “a healthy relationship” is to cope better with boredom, shaping their long-term choices.

Their marriage is built on quiet coexistence rather than passion. Alice respects him as long as he leaves her alone and does not bother her too much with his cycling stories, but he represents safety and routine, not desire or longing.

The town is a symbol of her relationship; the setting is serene, yet it also mirrors her emotional stillness and her emotional dormancy. Her life, though not unhappy, carries an undercurrent of resignation, as though she has made her peace with a life that does not quite nourish her spirit.

Mathieu’s appearance stirs something deeply buried. Their conversations and shared memories reignite emotions that Alice has long suppressed: regret, love, and abandonment. When she confronted Mathieu about his sudden departure years ago, which left her hurt and questioning herself, it is clear that she has never fully let go of him, despite her composed exterior. Her husband represents the safe space, but also a reminder of what she originally wanted but never secured. Her unresolved attachment creates a stark contrast with her current domestic life, pulling her between two identities: the person she became and the one she might have been with Mathieu.

Alice is not the type of person who is looking to escape her life, but Mathieu’s return forces her to question whether she’s settled too much. She is anchored in a good-enough present but haunted by the emotional intensity of her past. Her relationship with Mathieu isn’t about rekindling a romance so much as confronting an emotional truth she has been avoiding. It is less about the betrayal of her husband from her sleeping with “just a friend” Mathieu, than rediscovering who she is.

The rekindled bond acts as a catalyst for painful self-reflection, forcing both Mathieu and Alice to confront whether they built what they truly wanted.

Considering their original context, at the height of their relationship, Mathieu broke things off very suddenly, which left her in ruins; the breakup was not mutual; it was his decision alone, and the immediacy of his departure plunged Alice into a deep depression. It was not long after Mathieu began his relationship with his now-wife, an act Alice perceives as a betrayal, as he “left her for someone else,” which compounded her sense of abandonment and broke her heart.

Mathieu’s decision to leave Alice was rooted in a mix of fear, ambition, and emotional immaturity —a complex blend that reflects the tension between his public life and private self. At the time of their relationship, Mathieur was overwhelmed by the emotional intensity he shared with Alice. Otherwise, the bond would not have lasted all these years. It was real and deep, but confronting - it required vulnerability and responsibility. Rather than grow into that, Mathieu recoiled. His sudden exit was a sign of his inability to cope with the emotional weight of a lasting connection.

His life was accelerating professionally as he became a prominent actor and increasingly immersed himself in a fast-paced, high-profile world. Alice, by contrast, represented a quieter, more grounded existence. Dumping her was the symbolic choice of prioritising the superficiality of glitter over the authenticity of emotional ties, which he is now paying the price for.

Mathieu is still struggling with who he is, his breakdown and his retreat to the spa reflect a man who never truly resolved his emotional past. Back then, leaving Alice could be perceived as an act of betrayal, understandably so in Alice’s eyes, but could also be understood an act of self-protection from Mathieu- fleeing something that felt too serious or exposing, not realising the depth of the harm he caused to her, but also himself, much later on.

Now older and more self-aware, he accepts his catch-up with Alice not to reignite a romance, but to gain a renewed perspective by confronting the fallout of a decision that has haunted him. His conversations with Alice are filled with regret and awkward silences - he is a man who ran, and now must face the emotional consequences of his past cowardice.

He is now noticeably more reflective and willing to face discomfort, while he still carries emotional hesitation, he does not run away this time. Instead, he seeks out Alice, listens to her pain, and allows himself to be confronted by the consequences of his actions. Their conversations are more honest and layered, filled with silences, apologies, and mutual acknowledgement.

Previously, Mathieu shielded himself through withdrawal and denial; now, even though he does not necessarily know what he wants, he is open to uncertainty. He is no longer trying to avoid blame or control the narrative - he absorbs it, however uncomfortably. This emotional shift does not erase the past, but it marks growth: a movement from self-preservation to relational accountability.

His “avoidant” wife and the fakery of the world he is part of were just a mirror to what he displayed to Alice when he broke up the relationship. He has been given a taste of his own medicine, which triggered that self-reflection. Mathieu is no longer centred solely on himself. In his earlier departure, Alice’s pain was secondary to his needs. Now her voice matters. He listens without deflecting. His visit becomes less about seeking redemption and more about acknowledging her as a whole person, not just someone he once loved, but someone he wronged and is finally ready to face.

Conclusion:

The movie asks whether the passage of time renders reconciliation impossible, or whether sincere acknowledgement can reopen what once seemed sealed, after 15 years of silence:

Can someone who once hurt you deeply still have a place in your life? Is remorse enough?

Both characters' lives have changed, including their partners and responsibilities, but one thing has not: the emotional imprint they left on each other. For Alice, the past is not entirely “water under the bridge”. It shaped her, scarred her and informed the life she built. Yet despite this, she does not shut Mathieu out. His presence, while painful, also opens up an opportunity to voice what was never said. The act of mutual acknowledgement, however belated, is emotionally significant. It does not erase the past, but it makes room for truth, for grief, and something approaching peace.

At the heart of this is the tension between recognition and reversal. Recognition of harm, of love lost, of time passed - and yet, no clear path to reversal. Both characters must grapple with the idea that some doors may not fully reopen, no matter how deeply they are knocked upon. Even with genuine remorse and lingering feelings, they live with the lives they chose, the people they became in the absence of each other.

The dilemma, then, is not whether they can be together again, but whether they should, and whether that would honour or distort the journey they have taken part in.

While love can persist across time, second chances are not about reclaiming the past; they are about facing it honestly and deciding whether its echo belongs in the present. It is a film that respects the quiet ache of lost possibilities and the courage it takes to acknowledge them, though powerful, it does not always demand a redo. Sometimes, it is simply enough.