Victor is a lively but poor boy who makes a living on the streets of Paris as a shoe-shine boy. It's 1934 and the city of light shows Victor a comfortable, luxurious life that is closed to him. When he runs away from home to escape his aunt Eugénie's mistreatment he is taken in by two Russian painters. With his new friends he discovers Paris's nocturnal, bohemian side peopled by all manner of personalities like the queen of Montparnasse, the surrealists, or the blind sculptor. But, everything changes when he meets Antoine, a rich boy. Their unexpected and deep friendship takes them to tragedy. Victor tries to reignite their friendship in the years that follow, isolated from one another by the Second World War.