Sex, love, desire, nudity, psychosis, hope, despair, friendship, happiness, even utopia are all present here. It's a world that is available to anyone who is homosexual, who knows the rules of gay cruising, and as such can be seen as a paradise of naked bodies for anyone looking for anonymous, or even not-so-anonymous, sex. It's not a huis-clos as it can be left and re-visited many times, or simply passed by. But it has boundaries, and those aren't the boundaries of the huge Lac Sainte-Croix in Var. Several times the camera shows us the unofficial car park, the entrance to a different world from that outside, where the men – and this of course is an all-male film – come to have sex. Or not. Franck (Pierre Deladonchmps) is a friendly guy and soon has conversations with Henri (Patrick d'Assumçao) who has broken up with his partner and usually sits away from the others: he's older and doesn't understand the gay scene, doesn't really understand what being gay is. But he's sociable enough and he and Franck talk about the outside world, of having a drink outside this world, although the camera never moves away from the gay boundaries: the car park, the beach, the wood where we see couples indulge in sometimes graphic sex.
Franck is attracted to Michel (Christophe Paou) in spite of (or partly because of) having seen him drown Pascal Ramière (François Labarthe). He was attracted to him before this but that in no way explains the continuing attraction. Is it the thrill of the danger? It's certainly not a death wish, and the tension is high when he goes to join Michel in the middle of the lake. When his attraction to Michel is wearing off – he doesn't like Michel's idea of restricting their activities to the world of the lake and not the larger outside one – he nearly tells Inspector Damroder the truth, that he has in fact seen Michel commit murder, but he restrains himself. And the price of his silence costs at least two more murders.
While Franck is swimming Henri joins Michel, who rebukes him for not stripping naked, spending all his time not doing anything and Henri says that's what people do on holiday. He reveals that he has worked out that Michel is the murderer, and as he slowly walks towards the wood he looks back at Michel: it is patently obvious that he has a death wish. When Franck sees that the beach is empty he hurries back to find Henri with his throat slit, tries to help him but Henri has succeeded in getting his wish and dies a few seconds later.
With the appearance of Damroder Michel knifes him and Franck runs away, Michel calling for him, telling him he loves him and that he wants to spend the night with him. As Franck calls out for him, the film ends: surely death awaits Franck when he returns to the car park, he can't get out of it alive?
A fascinating and surprisingly complex film that haunts the mind with its unanswered questions.
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