Thérèse is Catholic and melancholic. Her life is not happy between an austere father and an unpleasant brother: religion offers her some compensation. She will also thwart the love she feels for Valmy even though he is an atheist. The intransigent father pushes his daughter to break up. Thérèse goes on retreat to La Salette. Valmy, warned, joins her. In the alpine setting conducive to escapes and pursuits, the lovers will be defeated. One will yield, the other will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.