Le premier pas

In 1936, the political and marital tribulations of Léon Blum, elected President of the Council at the head of the Popular Front.

The wife of a famous composer survives a car accident that kills her husband and daughter. Now alone, she shakes off her old identity and explores her newfound freedom but finds that she is unbreakably bound to other humans, including her husband’s mistress, whose existence she never suspected.

Nina and Madeleine have been sharing their lives and the landing between their two apartments for decades. After more than 20 years of loving in the shadows, Madeleine promises Nina she will tell her family the truth. It takes an unexpected event to show her the importance of living your truth.

Didier, 28 years old, is still livning with his parents. Prisoner of his own habits, he doesn't communicate with them anymore. When he casually meets his former girlfriend, Valerie, he finds again his serenity.

Forty-eight-year-old Alain Evrard is obliged to return home to live with his mother. This situation causes all the violence of their past relationship to rise to the surface. Alain then discovers that his mother has a fatal illness. In the last months of her life, will they finally be capable of taking a step toward each other?

Solange is unhappy. She's a meter maid in Tours, working in the rain, subject to verbal abuse from those she cites. Her husband Patrick is consumed by the work of finishing their new house: carpet, tile, faucets. He's also a hothead, subjecting Sonange to tantrums. While she's often quiet and withdrawn, she longs to be a singer. When by chance she meets Mylène, an accomplished, beautiful Parisian writer she admires, Solange gives her a demo tape. Mylène is encouraging, a friendship of sorts develops, and when Solange despairs after a series of personal, emotional setbacks, she heads for Mylène's doorstep in Paris. Does a singing career await, and what about Patrick?

Antoine Sforza, a thirty-year-old young man, left his village ten years before in order to start a new life in the big city, but now that his father, a traveling grocer, is in hospital after a stroke, he more or less reluctantly accepts to come back to replace him in his daily rounds.

Véronique Chambon (Sandrine Kiberlain), a single schoolteacher and Jean (Vincent Lindon), discover an unexpected bond that causes them to question the direction of their lives. They move in different social circles but their relationship develops and their lives begin gradually to unravel.

At Christmas, Nathalie is haunted by an ominous premonition about Alice, adopted 14 years earlier. While her husband and in-laws are present, a closed-door situation develops in which her daughter's behavior changes abruptly.

Clémence Alpharo, who, in order to get a permanent contract in the company that has just hired her, must push Henri Giffard, a sales representative at the end of his career, towards early retirement. But Giffard refuses. His work is the only thing that still gives meaning to his life. Caught between the prospect of a professional future that would allow her to escape her family history and the unexpected affection she feels for the salesman, Clémence must choose. A choice that will inexorably push Clémence and Henri to the limit.

Normandy, 1819. Jeanne is a young woman full of childish dreams and innocence when she returns home after finishing her schooling in a convent. She marries a local Viscount, Julien de Lamare, who soon reveals himself to be a miserly and unfaithful man. Little by little Jeanne’s illusions are stripped away.