At the end of the 19th century, the sinister Croûteux Inn rises up amidst the rugged mountains of the Pyrenees. The establishment is run by Martin and Rose, a couple of innkeepers who are in the habit of asking Violet – their deaf-mute adopted son – to murder solitary travellers in order to steal from them. One stormy night, the good father Carnus is guiding an adolescent who wants to be led to a monastery deep in the mountains...