Plot

Noël Schoudler is the head of a wealthy and powerful family in France. He manages his financial and commercial concerns with an iron grip, leaving little room for his son François to prove himself.

Paris in the 1950s: Noël Schoudler, patriarch of one of the most influential families in France, rules over an empire consisting of a bank, newspaper publishing house and sugar factory. But behind the facade of success, things are seething: Schoudler's authoritarian management style meets with resistance even from his closest confidants. His son François, once his designated successor, was removed from all positions after making a disrespectful remark. At the same time, the unscrupulous cousin Lucien Maublanc tries to blackmail the patriarch with rumors. When Schoudler suddenly gives François control of the lucrative sugar factory, the family members interpret this as a sign of weakness - a fallacy. The patriarch stages a complex power play designed to test his heirs for loyalty and greed: He feigns a financial collapse in order to decipher the family members' intentions. What begins as a lesson in manipulation leads to further conflicts within the clan. Intrigue and mistrust poison the relationships, while son François falls deeper and deeper into a maelstrom of guilt and powerlessness between a sense of duty and bitterness.—Arte