Virginia (Catherine Hessling) has to fend for herself after the death of her father. Any money that might have been left for her has been used by her drunken uncle, Jef, (Pierre Lestringuez, also the screenwriter) to buy more booze. After a false start at a new life with some bohemians, she is taken in by Monsieur Raynal (Georges T?rof) and falls in love with his son Georges (Harold Levingston). But on an errand to pay a bill for M. Raynal, Virginia is robbed by her uncle and is suspected by the Raynals of stealing the money for herself. Jean Renoir's tragic tale is punctuated by a fascinatingly surreal nightmare sequence.