Based on real-life events that took place in the late nineteenth century, Marie Heurtin follows the story of a deaf and blind fourteen-year-old girl who can’t communicate with the outside world. Despite the advice of a doctor who believes she is “dumb”, Marie’s father, a humble artisan, cannot bring himself to commit her to an asylum. Out of despair, he takes her to the Larnay Institute near Poitiers where nuns take care of young deaf women. Her Mother Superior’s scepticism not withstanding, Sister Marguerite, a young nun, takes Marie under her wing and does everything she can to bring her out of her darkness.