Two alienated teens in the early '70s provide the focus of this mournful French drama. The year is 1972 and 16-year old lovers Gilles and Christine are trying to deal with authority, school, their place in the world and their troubled families. Christine's father is worried about her mental health thinks about putting her into a facility. He does it after Gilles steals from a store and Christine is taken to the police station. Gilles may be facing boarding school as his father tries to deal with his son's increasing delinquency. Christine finds the clinic more depressing than life at home and runs away to a party to meet Gilles. They temporarily panic when her parents appear, but then relax and trip out on drugs around a huge fire. In the morning they are quiet and thoughtful.