Gilda Besse (Charlize Theron) is a rising photographer living in Paris in the 1930s. She invites Guy Malyon (Stuart Townsend), an Irish intellectual, and Mia (Penélope Cruz), a Spanish refugee, to share her apartment. The trio forms a unique romantic bond. But as World War II begins spreading across Europe, their bond is broken when Guy and Mia decide to leave to serve in the war effort, and Gilda chooses to stay in Paris to pursue her career and maintain her bohemian lifestyle.