Marc is a loser. Oh, sure, we’re all losers compared to somebody, right? But Marc is the kind you can recognize from a mile away. A little self-centered, average at everything, no real passions, apathetic — a loser, basically… One day, Marc’s girlfriend, Karine, informs him that the man with whom she had an affair has developed AIDS. In response, Marc heads off on a trip around the world. He realizes — and writes to Karine — that he has never really loved her, that he’s simply stayed with her out of force of habit. And he rediscovers life on his own, meets people, even makes new friends. But will he really be able to change and grow? Can he bring himself to take the AIDS test that he has avoided so far? From New York to Shanghai and Istanbul, Marc will be forced to reflect on who he is, what he does, his relationships with other people, and how he is perceived.

A superb fable about the relationships between adults, who are supposedly sane, responsible and self-aware. But no matter who we think we are, or what other people think about us — what does this self-consciousness mean? We simply are. And people are the same everywhere. Through Marc’s journey of self-discovery — Marc being a character we have already met in Effleurés — Isabelle Bauthian holds up a mirror to ourselves.