Anchor plot: The film follows a literary critic as he investigates the mysterious author of a newly-published novel that has become a literary sensation, Last Hours of a Love Story. After a young publisher, Daphné Despero (Alice Isaaz), finds the novel in a library for rejected books in Brittany, she searches for the supposed author, Henri Pick, but finds out from his wife, Madeline Pick (Josiane Stoléru), and his daughter, Joséphine Pick (Camille Cottin) that he is a recently deceased owner of a former pizza shop. A popular television-show literary critic, Jean-Michel Rouche (Fabrice Luchini), thinking it impossible that a simple pizza-maker from Brittany could have written a literary masterpiece, takes on the role of a detective and, with the help of Joséphine Pick, he explores the mystery of the novel's true authorship, unearthing the stories of many characters associated with the book's publication and the library of rejected books, attempting to resolve their motives in hiding their identity and their connections to the novel's content. After reading an earlier book by a young author, Daphné's partner Fred Koskas Bastien Bouillon), which he was supposed to review on his show, Rouche has no doubt that Fred must have written Last Hours of a Love Story as well, solidifying his promise as an author. The film ends with Joséphine and Rouche discussing another author whose mystery follows similar circumstances.

Plot A: A man sentenced to 20 years in prison in the Monteforte prison, while working on creating toys for children, puts a note in a papier-mâché horse in which he claims to have been unjustly imprisoned and appeals to anyone who reads the message to get him out of captivity.
The horse, after alternating events, is collected in pieces in the hands of five schoolmates, Gianni, Andrea, Mario, Ugo and Nino, who find the note written by the prisoner. They then plan an escape and plan to all be promoted to go on vacation to Monteforte.
Summer arrives, and the boys anonymously send a cake to the prisoner, the convict n. 5823 with a ticket but the prisoner is in the cell together with no. 6211, a dangerous criminal, with whom he shares the cake and who, unfortunately, also finds the ticket.
By chance or by fate, even the members of the clan of prisoner 6211 are about to implement an escape plan to free their partner and take advantage of it.
The beautiful singer Amelia is also part of the criminal company, who, once they meet the boys, makes them believe that the life prisoner is her brother, so that the boys hasten the escape plan, freeing the gangster Jack Menotti.
The boys hide the fugitive in an abandoned boat, but realize too late that they have been deceived. Fortunately, the police arrive and handcuff the criminal and, some time later, will put convict no. 5823 in freedom.

Plot B: Paul Exben is a remarkable success story: a partner in one of Paris's most prestigious law firms, boasting a substantial salary, a spacious home, a glamorous wife, and two sons who could easily grace the pages of a high-end fashion catalog. However, his world shatters when he uncovers his wife Sarah's affair with Greg Kremer, a local photographer. In a moment of passionate fury, Paul commits a fatal mistake. As he stands over the lifeless body of his wife's lover, Paul comprehends that his once-perfect life is irreversibly shattered.
But rather than succumb to his grim circumstances, Paul decides to seize a radical opportunity. Assuming the identity of the deceased man, he escapes to a remote region in former Yugoslavia, nestled along the enchanting Adriatic coast. In this secluded refuge, Paul is granted a second chance at being true to himself and, finally, gaining a profound perspective on the grand tapestry of life.