Two young men, Zim and Jean-Pierre, both sentenced for a minor offence, recognize one another when they are released from prison on the same day. One wants to reform, but his friend wants to stay a crook. The first one gets a job and begins improving his life, while the young criminal ends up incarcerated for stealing cars.

Irène is the unhappy wife of a wealthy publisher, Jacques Voisin-Larive, who cares about her no more than a beautiful piece of furniture. Her meeting with Étienne, a young cabinetmaker with whom she falls in love, turns her dismal existence upside down. Not wanting to reveal her condition to her lover, she pretends to be a modest maid, employed by the Voisin-Larive. At the end of a weekend spent with her lover, Irène discovers that she is pregnant. The fragile balance of their existence is suddenly broken. Taking the initiative, she reveals her affair to Jacques and tells him about her desire to divorce. But her husband has no intention of giving her back her freedom...