Meanwhile

Carmen Ferland and Jocelyne Zucco chat with customers as the dining room fills. The scene introduces a range of patrons—the mother and daughter, an older couple, a young quarrelling pair—creating a lively, intimate atmosphere in a Montréal restaurant.

A portly man sits at a reserved table and secretly places a dynamite timer underneath. He rises to make a phone call using the restaurant's phone as two English-speaking mafiosi enter and claim the same table, synchronizing their fates with the bomber’s scheme. The stage is set for a silent, deadly clockwork amid ordinary meals.

A montage of faces lights up as the five-minute countdown starts. The bomber exits briefly to adjust a trash bin and leaves the remote beneath the table; the restaurant resumes its routine while danger quietly approaches.

The little girl Josée-Marguerite spots a sign of trouble under the reserved table and points it out to her mother. The mother initially dismisses the sight, while the countdown continues, foreshadowing the dramatic danger beneath the surface.

The quarrelling couple settles in while an older man looks on; the reflection in a pocket watch shows the red light of the timer. The portly man mutters 'That woman’s dynamite!' and the tension blends with humor as the scene tightens around the impending explosion.

The first waitress proclaims the meal free as she takes the dish away, accidentally causing a momentary scramble as the portly man ends up seated with the dish in front of him. The dining room's ordinary rituals proceed even as the bomb lingers beneath the surface.

The mother steps away briefly, and Josée-Marguerite leaves the booth to get a closer look at the bomb. Her mother hastily reclaims her and scolds the girl, while the device remains half dislodged beneath the table.

The portly man orders coffee and cigarettes as the timer ticks toward danger. The older lady privately counsels the younger man to slow down, adding a note of uneasy calm to the escalating scene.

The older lady slides toward the door with a knowing smile, distracting the portly man who rises to follow. A new patron delays him, as the countdown moves toward its final push, and the room tightens with anticipation.

The mother’s awaited boyfriend arrives just as the young couple reconciles with a kiss, briefly restoring a sense of normalcy. The older lady remains a quiet presence as danger continues to loom in the background.

The countdown races from 0:10 to 0:03, then stops as the older lady retrieves the remote from the bin outside. She flips it, and the timer ticks down to 0:01 before she discards the device again, failing to resolve the threat but buying a moment of ambiguity.

Inside, the portly man samples the older lady's leftovers while Josée-Marguerite meets her mother's boyfriend and the waitresses share news. The bomb remains half-dislodged under the table, with the timer still showing 0:01, leaving the scene suspended in a fragile, unsettled calm.