Three friends navigate mid-life crises: a blocked writer, a disillusioned doctor, and a charming man facing bankruptcy and divorce. As their struggles strain friendships, a younger man captures the attention of one friend's wife, complicating their lives further.

After working with the bank for a long time, Julien decides to open a restaurant with his best friend. Unfortunately, when the bank refuses to grant him a loan, he comes up with a plan.

In 1980s Italy, a relationship begins between seventeen-year-old teenage Elio and the older adult man hired as his father's research assistant.