What Happens in France?
The complete story of France, from the first scene to the last, in 346 words (about 2 minutes). Spoilers throughout.
Spoilers ahead
France de Meurs (Léa Seydoux) is the lead studio anchor and field reporter for a high-profile French television news program. Known for her charisma and reporting from global conflict zones, she maintains a public reputation as a fearless, objective journalist. Behind the camera, however, her priority shifts from strict journalistic integrity to the deliberate staging of her footage to maximize her personal brand. She is consistently encouraged in this practice by Lou (Blanche Gardin), her cynical assistant. This singular focus on her career heavily impacts her personal life, leaving her marriage to Fred, an author, and her relationship with their son, Jojo, highly strained.
One morning, while driving her son to school, France knocks down a young man on a scooter. The event is immediately exploited by social networks, and she realizes how fragile her popularity is. Sincerely affected by the fate of Baptiste, whom she has sent to hospital, she goes to visit him and decides to help his family, against her husband’s advice. She then sinks into depression and decides to leave the news channel. She heads off to Bavaria, to a health resort in the heart of the snow-capped mountains, where she meets Charles Castro, a young man undergoing treatment. They begin an affair, and France is relieved to meet someone who doesn’t know of her fame. However, she discovers that Charles is an unscrupulous journalist who has tricked her into falling in love with him for a magazine piece he is writing on her. Although the young man tells her he’s really fallen in love with her, she violently rejects him.
Back in Paris, she resumes her job at the station, and endures harassment from Charles, who has become obsessed with her. She is not really cured of her depression. The sudden death of her husband and son in a car accident takes its toll on her, but strangely enough, after hitting rock bottom, she realizes that her previous problems were rather trivial, and decides to give Charles another chance, as he may be the only one left she can turn to.
