Les ombres ("Shadows") is set in a low rent apartment in Paris' suburb, and depicts the life of a working class family. Pierre, the father, pretends to believe in the love of his wife, who acts as she was a diva. Franck, the son, plays the rocker and escapes as often as possible from the family life. Only Nathalie, the younger one, brings balance into this breaking-down family, and puts life back into the surrounding shadows.