After the death of his wife, Henri labours alone and sad in his restaurant. Help comes in the shape of an inmate from the nearby home for the mentally disabled. Henri is in his fifties and runs a small cafe in Charleroi. He falls into a major funk when his wife falls ill and dies suddenly. With the restaurant falling into disarray, Henri’s daughter recommends that he take on a “white butterfly,” local parlance for residents of a nearby home for the mentally disabled, who often sign up for part-time work. And so Henri meets Rosette, a kind, open-hearted young woman whose impairment is not especially severe, enabling her to fit in well enough with Henri and his drinking buddies. But Rosette yearns for the fulfillments of love and romance, and finding herself drawn to Henri, she makes an innocent remark about him that produces considerable turmoil, sending both characters on an alternately sweet and glum odyssey as they attempt to figure out what they each need and whether they can get it from each other.
After the death of his wife, Henri labours alone and sad in his restaurant. Help comes in the shape of an inmate from the nearby home for the mentally disabled.
Henri is in his fifties and runs a small cafe in Charleroi. He falls into a major funk when his wife falls ill and dies suddenly. With the restaurant falling into disarray, Henri’s daughter recommends that he take on a “white butterfly,” local parlance for residents of a nearby home for the mentally disabled, who often sign up for part-time work. And so Henri meets Rosette, a kind, open-hearted young woman whose impairment is not especially severe, enabling her to fit in well enough with Henri and his drinking buddies. But Rosette yearns for the fulfillments of love and romance, and finding herself drawn to Henri, she makes an innocent remark about him that produces considerable turmoil, sending both characters on an alternately sweet and glum odyssey as they attempt to figure out what they each need and whether they can get it from each other.