When fading 80s rock star Lee Hauser (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' James Johnston) overdoses in a run-down motel, his junkie widow Emily (Maggie Cheung), already reviled by the press for ruining his career, takes public blame for his death and is arrested for possession. After a spell in prison, she returns to Paris where she once lived and attempts to win the trust of her elderly in-laws who have taken custody of her young son. Her life becomes a daily battle to find a place for herself in a world in which she feels unloved and which she despises. But when tragedy strikes, she is brought closer to her estranged family and begins to face the demons of her past.