Naïma is a naive high school student living with her mother in a modest Cannes apartment, just after her sixteenth birthday, and she stands at a crossroads about the future. She is preparing for a summer internship as a chef in the hotel kitchen where her mother works as a chambermaid, yet she remains unsure about stepping into that world. At the same time, she hopes to audition for a school play alongside her gay best friend and classmate, Dodo, whose own acting ambitions light up the summer horizon.
When her voluble 22-year-old cousin Sofia unexpectedly arrives from Paris, Naïma’s world expands in new directions. Sofia embodies a free-spirited, cynical take on life and relationships, and she quickly becomes a mentor who teaches Naïma to measure life in sensations and adventures rather than in romance alone. To mark Naïma’s birthday, Sofia gives her a baby-pink Chanel handbag that mirrors Sofia’s own taste for luxury and risk.
Their night unfolds at a nightclub where the two meet two older men, Andrès — a wealthy Brazilian businessman and art collector — and his French friend and assistant, Philippe. The men invite the cousins aboard a yacht anchored at the marina, with Dodo tagging along. Tensions flare as Dodo’s friends are told to leave by Sofia and Stewart, a staff member who watches over the VIPs. A confrontation erupts: Dodo accuses Sofia of using her charm for material gain, and the party ends with the cousins stepping away from the yacht.
The following day, Naïma and Sofia visit a chic boutique and charge expensive items to Andrès’s tab. Naïma also marks her own season with a tattoo, getting the same “carpe diem” lower-back ink as Sofia. The day of Naïma’s scheduled audition shifts when she decides to join Sofia, Andrès, and Philippe on another yacht trip—this time to Calypso’s villa, the home of a wealthy friend named Calypso who can charm or unsettle with just a remark. On the villa lawn, Sofia’s erudite references to Marguerite Duras impress Calypso, though she also notes Sofia’s plastic surgery with a wry edge. Naïma grows an unlikely friendship with [Philippe], who treats her with quiet kindness and even declines her advances as they sail back to Cannes.
Trouble brews when Andrès accuses the cousins of stealing a valuable antique sextant. Stewart orders them off the yacht, yet Naïma pleads for a fair chance to prove their innocence. Sofia, however, urges Naïma to walk away, leaving her to face the turmoil alone. Philippe witnesses Andrès discreetly placing the sextant back into its box, appalled by his behavior, while Andrès remains nonchalant about the whole matter. A nightclub reunion with Dodo ends more amicably than before: he initially rebuffs Naïma, but soon reveals he has passed his own audition.
Back at home, Naïma wakes to Sofia’s quiet departure for London. The next morning, she says a final goodbye to Philippe, who reassures her that she has tremendous value and that she is not a thief. The story leaps forward three months: Naïma is now training to become a chef, and she begins to sell the expensive items she and Sofia bought, while still keeping the Chanel bag as a testament to the summer that changed everything.
Overall, the film traces a coming-of-age summer in which Naïma navigates class, desire, and the lure of risk, guided by the contrasting influences of Sofia’s liberated worldview and Philippe’s more measured kindness. The narrative remains intimate and observational, letting Naïma’s inner growth unfold through encounters with wealth, friendship, aspiration, and the price of chasing a moment that feels like everything.
