As temperatures soar in a summer heatwave, daily life in an outwardly quiet French hamlet is disrupted by Josef Bousou, the son of a family of scrap merchants. The villagers single him out as a troublemaker, the source of all their problems. The mayor hears all the complaints of petty theft, noise-making and general disquiet that Josef causes and tries to help. Josef is arrested after he attacks an old woman and is then blamed for possibly attacking a teenage girl as well as stealing the villages new water pump. He is released and the hostility against him increases. After a night out his family returns home to find Josef dead in their yard. The police investigate what appears to be a murder.