The comfortable daily routines of aging Parisian actor Gilbert Valence, 76, are suddenly shaken when he learns that his wife, daughter, and son-in-law have been killed in a car crash. Having to take care of his now-orphaned grandson, he struggles to go on with his lifelong acting career like he’s used to. But the roles he is offered — a flashy TV show and a hectic last-minute replacement in an English-language film of Joyce’s Ulysses — finally convince him that it’s time to retire.