One day, author Édouard Louis finds a photo of his mother from twenty years ago. A happy young woman, full of hopes, full of dreams. But Édouard only knows his mother to be completely unhappy, trapped in the humdrum life of a housewife. What happened in those years since the photo was taken?

We see how, every day, his mother has to fight the dominant world of men, in which she is not allowed to pursue her talents and dreams. She is not even allowed to take driving lessons. It takes her twenty years to free herself from this oppression. She leaves her husband, leaves her old life behind and starts a new one in Paris.