Algiers, 1938. Meursault, a young thirty-something man and a lowly employee, buries his mother without showing the slightest emotion. The following day, he embarks on an affair with an office colleague called Marie, and then he gets back to everyday life. But his neighbour, Raymond Sintès, upsets his daily routine by dragging him into some shady business, until a tragedy takes place on a beach beneath the blazing sun...