Paulette Van Der Beck and her husband have been running the housekeeping school of Bitche in Alsace for many years. Their mission is to train teenage girls to become the perfect housewives at a time when women were expected to be subservient to their husband. After the sudden death of her husband, Paulette discovers that the school is on the verge of bankruptcy and has to take her responsibilities. But while preparations are underway for the best housekeeping competition TV show, she and her lively students start questioning their beliefs as the nation-wide protests of May 1968 transform society around them. Reunited with her first love, André, and with the help of her eccentric stepsister Gilberte and strict nun Marie-Therese, Paulette joins forces with the schoolgirls to overcome their suppressed status and become liberated women.
Juliette Binoche
as Paulette Van Der Beck
Yolande Moreau
as Gilberte Van der Beck
Noémie Lvovsky
as Marie-Therese
Édouard Baer
as André Grunvald
François Berléand
as Robert Van der Beck
Marie Zabukovec
as Annie Fuchs
Anamaria Vartolomei
as Albane Des-deux-Ponts
Lily Taïeb
as Yvette Ziegler
Pauline Briand
as Corinne Schwartz
Armelle
as Christiane Rougemont
Marine Berlanger
as Residential school student
Clémence Blondeau
as Residential school student
