Thomas lives in a military base on colony of Madagascar, with his parents and friends. He gradually becomes aware of territorial and sexual politics while finding an outlet for his imagination in the exploits of crime-buster Fantômette.

At the beginning of the 70s, in Madagascar, a few armed forces and their families live in one of the last French military bases abroad, a relic of the ending French colonial empire. Influenced by his reading of the intrepid comic book heroine Fantômette, Thomas, a ten-year-old boy, sweeps with a curious glance what surrounds him. Beneath the carefree expatriate life, his eyes are gradually opening to another reality.—Playtime