Stéphane Miroux (Gael García Bernal) is a young man whose vivid dreams and imagination often interfere with his ability to interact with reality. He is coaxed back to his childhood home after his divorced father passes away and his mother finds him a job in a calendar printing company in France. His mother (Miou-Miou) implies the position is a creative role, and he prepares colourful drawings, each showing a disaster, for his "disasterology" calendar. However, nobody appreciates his talents and it transpires that his mother had led him on - the real vacancy is for nothing more than mundane typesetting work. While leaving his apartment to go to work one day, Stéphane injures his hand helping his new neighbor move a piano into her apartment. The new neighbor, Stéphanie (Charlotte Gainsbourg), invites Stéphane into her apartment (unaware that he lives next door) where her friend Zoé (Emma de Caunes) tends to his wound. Stéphane initially forms an attraction to Zoé, though he suspects it is instead Stéphanie who likes him.