This film is based on the true story of Jean-Claude Romand, who famously spent many years pretending to family and friends that he was working as a doctor when he was in fact unemployed, but in the end – when it became inevitable that he would be discovered due to all the money he'd borrowed and couldn't possibly repay – his reaction was the most drastic imaginable: to kill himself and his family. As it happened though, he survived and was imprisoned for life. He was released in 2019.
Cantet's take on the story is very different, with different names, a different invented job, and the absence of a dramatic ending. Vincent (Aurélien Recoing) is an unemployed business consultant living with his wife Muriel (Karin Viard), his two sons and one daughter. He spends his days – many away from home sleeping in his car in hotels car parks, wasteland and suchlike – and also borrowing money from friends and 'business clients': he's done his homework and knows how to convince people that they're making a good investment. Slowly, he inevitably falls into the hands of Jean-Michel (Serge Livrozet), a crook who's been intently watching his activities and only too willing to draw him into his web. But Jean-Michel doesn't fool Muriel.
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