During the Algerian Civil War in 1960, a French officer named Roque is exhausted and exasperated with the meandering conflict. While his public role is to convince those in the small, isolated village where he's stationed of the 'good intentions' of the French presence, the main goal is to dismantle the Algerian undercover army of liberation (FLN). Torn between resentful locals and the soldiers, Roque is confronted with the possible betrayal of his own men, many of them young North African recruits, themselves torn between notions of patriotism and independence.