在这部禁区片中,塞巴斯蒂安是个出生只有几个月的婴儿，然而由于先天的遗传疾病，他不得不生活在一个类似气泡的保温室里。他的父亲克里斯蒂安寸步不离地守护着他，然而他的母亲苏菲，却没有勇气面对这个事实，采取逃避的态度，对他不闻不问，因为是她把疾病遗传给儿子的。这两种截然不同的态度，为夫妻关系埋下了不和谐的隐患。在夜以继日陪伴儿子的孤独日子里，克里斯蒂安结识了同命相连的单亲妈妈维吉妮。她的女儿同样患了不治之症，只有长期住院才能控制病情，并等待医学的发展，寻求一线生机。两个人在相互勉励的日子里暗生情愫。在医生的共同努力下，塞巴斯蒂安终于有望出院了，而维吉妮的女儿诺埃米却在静静等待死神的降临。爱情与同情使克里斯蒂安觉得不能弃维吉妮母女于不顾，于是决定把儿子送回苏菲身边后，回到医院。但当他再次返回医院的时候，维吉妮已经带着女儿离开了，她希望克里斯蒂安一家能够幸福的生活下去，而她也不会放弃任何一线希望来救治自己的女儿。
Sophie Moreau and her husband Christian, a teacher, live in Briançon. The couple is going through a painful ordeal as their baby suffers from a serious genetic disease. But instead of uniting the couple, the dreadful experience pulls them apart. Christian, on his part, resigns his post and settles down in Marseilles in order to be closer to the baby. As for Sophie, who feels guilty of transmitting the disease, she shuts herself up in her apartment to take care of their older daughter. In the hospital where the sick child is being treated, Christian gets to know Virginie, a single mother whose daughter Noémie is slowly dying of an incurable disease...
