A Few Days with Me

Martial is released after years of treatment for a nervous breakdown. He emerges largely silent, having stopped speaking to almost everyone, including his wife Régine. Back home, his mother hopes he will regain himself by taking on responsibilities.

His mother, a busy supermarket magnate, believes that giving him concrete tasks will help him find himself again. She pushes him to re-enter the workforce and oversee a failing venture. This sets up the dynamic that will drive the next leg of the story.

Martial is sent to Limoges on a business trip to inspect one of the family's stores. He is tasked with reviving the operation and dealing with the store's personnel. The assignment marks his first real attempt to function in a demanding role since his breakdown.

While reviewing the store's accounting, Martial discovers that the manager Fonfrin is padding the books. The dishonest bookkeeping is masking the branch’s near-failure. This realization puts Martial in a conflicted position as he tries to respond to the fraud.

Unable to assert himself, Martial struggles to take control of the situation. He falters under pressure and lets others pull the strings in the store. His lack of leadership underscores his fragile return to normal life.

Fonfrin invites Martial to dinner with his wife, and the naive heir is drawn into their world. The encounter exposes Martial to a corrupt side of business that he neither understands nor resists. It marks a troubling shift in his social circle.

At the same time, Martial meets Francine, a lively maid who captivates him. He becomes smitten and showers her with gifts, feeling for the first time in years that someone cares for him. The budding romance distracts him from his work.

The relationship with Francine brings a brief spark of happiness into Martial’s life. He invests time and resources in the affair, allowing his work at the store to slip further behind. This affair becomes a focal point of his emotional state.

Martial returns to Paris, carrying the emotional disruption of his affair and the incomplete tasks from Limoges. He finds it difficult to readjust and resumes his old pattern of passivity. The trip's consequences follow him home.

Back in Paris, Martial is deemed incompetent and is re-admitted to the hospital. His attempt to function in society collapses, and he retreats into the silence that defined his earlier years. The hospital marks the end of this chapter.

With the re-admission, the hopeful plan for Martial’s reintegration dissolves. His mother’s belief in rehabilitation remains unmet, and Martial’s life returns to its muted, institutional rhythm. The film closes on a note of ongoing struggle.