Julien and Emma are brother and sister, living in rural France with their father, who writes children's books. Julien is a gifted pianist but the loss of his mother has sucked the joie de vivre out of him; his best friend Alice knows it although their platonic relationship is more about him supporting her in bad relationship choices than anything else. When he sees a beautiful woman called Olga in a bookstore, Julien is smitten and sets about to set up someway of impressing her and winning her affection.