On the terrace of a Parisian café, Paul Valéry observes his neighbor, Monsieur Teste. The two men strike up a conversation. A supporter of "neither god nor master", Mr. Teste engages in a regular introspection, as rigorous as it is passionate, and shares his thoughts with humor.

In France, before WWI. As every Sunday, an old painter living in the country is visited by his son Gonzague, coming with his wife and his three children. Then his daugther Irene arrives. She is always in a hurry, she lives alone and does not come so often... An intimist chronicle in which what is not shown, what is guessed, is more important than how it looks, dealing with what each character expects of life.