Populaire 2013

Set in 1958–1959, Rose Pamphyle Déborah François lives with her widowed father and is expected to marry the son of the local mechanic, a path that keeps her ambitions small. When she travels out of town to apply for a secretarial job at an insurance agency run by Louis Échard Romain Duris, she immediately reveals a talent that surprises everyone: she can type at incredible speed, even though she uses only two fingers. Her raw potential catches Louis’s eye, and he challenges her to prove herself in a regional speed-typing contest if she wants the job.

Although Rose makes it to the finals of that first competition, she doesn’t win. Yet Louis, recognizing her gift, commits to turning her into the fastest typist the world has ever seen. He places a bold bet with his best friend, Bob Taylor Shaun Benson — who is married to his old sweetheart, Marie Mélanie Bernier — that Rose can win the regional title. What follows is an intense, highly organized training regime that unfolds at Louis’s home. They keep the arrangement discreet, with strict rules to protect the secret of Rose’s stay in his boyhood bedroom. Louis pushes Rose to learn the full spectrum of typing: move from two fingers to using all 10, and he even has her take piano lessons with Marie to strengthen her fingers. The training is methodical: color-code the keys on her typewriter, enforce better posture, and steadily refine her technique as the seasons change.

As Rose improves, a genuine friendship forms between teacher and student. The color-coded practice and deliberate routines become a shared language that deepens their bond, even as others around them grow aware of the growing attraction. Their trips to Paris intensify both their professional ambitions and their personal connection, and the night before the national competition, their affection comes to the surface as they reveal their love and become intimate.

When the national stage arrives, Rose finds herself facing the reigning champion, a daunting test under tremendous pressure. Louis, who had been controlling the narrative to maximize her edge, drops a bombshell: he has been lying about the extent of their preparations and, more crucially, that he has secretly been recording evidence that her speed routinely surpasses the opponent’s best. The lie becomes the spark that drives Rose to break through the fear and channel raw emotion into speed. She surges forward and wins the national title, flashing a triumphant smile that the crowd roars to celebrate. Louis, suddenly feeling the weight of his own inadequacy, steps back emotionally and withdraws from her training.

Rose’s fame takes off in Paris as she becomes a national celebrity, endorsed by a major typing firm and adopting their newest machine. She keeps in touch with Louis by phone, though he never answers. She begins to move on, and soon she travels to New York for the world competition, stepping into a broader, international arena of speed typists.

Meanwhile, Louis grapples with the consequences of his earlier deception and with the ache of feeling unable to give Rose the happiness he perceives she now deserves. He reaches out to Marie to understand why she chose Bob, and she retorts that Louis chose to settle for second place. He reflects on her wedding day to Bob, and Marie’s words—“I was smiling because I felt loved”—leave him with a poignant realization about what truly mattered.

Realizing he must confront his own inadequacies, Louis flies to New York to support Rose as the world final approaches its decisive moments. He arrives just as the second round ends and, during the final stretch, Rose discovers her old typewriter in the backstage area in a moment of renewed focus. Louis confronts her with his feelings, and their kiss seals a renewed partnership of trust and support. With renewed energy from their reunion, Rose moves to the final leg of the competition and races ahead again. Midway, her typewriter jams, threatening to derail her record pace, but she powers through, remembering the lessons, the drive, and the love that has kept her going. She finishes first, crowned the World’s Fastest Typist, as Louis steps onto the stage to share a kiss with her amid a cheering audience.

The film closes on a hopeful, intertwined note: Rose and Louis walk off hand in hand, their future bright with the promise of shared ambition and love, as the crowd’s applause lingers in the air.