Living in poverty with her younger brother and sick mother (Therese Liotard), 17-year-old Parisian Beth (Judith Godreche) leads a prosaic and morose existence. But when her loutish, uncaring beau (Malcolm Conrath) -- who takes Beth for granted -- flippantly suggests that she bed the most repulsive male she can find, she unexpectedly finds her grim life transformed in director Benoit Jacquot's provocative coming-of-age drama.