Jim Stephens is a deckchair attendant in the fading seaside town of Gormleigh, a laid‑back existence secured for him by his friend, Henry Liggott. He shares a simple life with his girlfriend, Judy, an ambitious young reporter at the local paper. When Judy suggests a bold plan to revive the town with a film festival featuring a glamorous French star, the trio is hauled before The Mayor to account for Jim’s curious idea. Faced with the threat of losing his job if he can’t land Bardot, Jim pivots and proposes a new target: the French film icon Françoise Fayol, whose latest New Wave work, Pavements of Boulogne, is premiering in Boulogne. With the mayor’s blessing, Jim and Liggott set off across the Channel on the Medway Queen to lure Fayol to Gormleigh’s festival.
In France, the pair stumble upon Fayol in a comic moment—she drives into a group of inflatable dolls on the beach, and they end up burning the dolls together. Fayol reveals a struggle with being typecast as a sex symbol and longs for more substantial roles and the freedom to choose her own path, away from a controlling mentor. The English men win her friendship by helping her rid herself of an enormous shipment of inflatable replicas of herself that she hates. Fayol agrees to return with them to Britain, where the town prepares an elaborate pageant to celebrate ties between England and France. The floats celebrate a range of themes, from a historical England–France connection to French art, with a memorable moment when a Napoleon and Josephine float gets jammed and the VIP grandstand is accidentally launched down a slipway.
Fayol’s first days in Gormleigh are anything but smooth. She is soaked by the sea, then by rain, and finally by a muddy puddle. She initially refuses to leave her hotel room, and it takes Jim’s gentle coaxing to draw her out. As Fayol grows more at ease, she and Jim develop a genuine connection, and her presence injects electricity into the town’s tired, old‑fashioned rhythms. Judy, meanwhile, grows increasingly uneasy as Jim’s bond with Fayol deepens, casting a shadow over the three‑way dynamic that the town had hoped would spark renewed energy.
When the festival finally opens, it becomes a resounding success, attracting tourists and media attention largely because Fayol’s star power shines so brightly. The climactic moment features the screening of Pavements of Boulogne, followed the next morning by the launch of a new nudist beach. Fayol, anxious about seeing herself on screen and eager to win the festival’s top prize—the golden cockle—begins the event with optimism. Yet tensions flare as rival town mayors orchestrate a savage disruption, threatening to derail the celebration.
News of the chaotic fallout and harsh reviews—including Judy’s—push Fayol toward a continent she knows well, determined to return to the next project arranged by her demanding mentor. A desperate sprint to the railway station by Henry Liggott and the rest of the team fails to stop her, and Fayol leaves town on the train. In a final twist of improvisation, Judy disguises herself with a blonde wig and sunglasses and steps into Fayol’s spotlight, taking Fayol’s place for the opening of the town’s new nudist beach. The town’s celebration continues, buoyed by a blend of old charm and new fire, while the relationships at the heart of Gormleigh—between Jim, Judy, and Fayol—are left forever altered by the festival that changed everything.
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