The protagonist is Carmen X, a female member of a terrorist gang. She asks her uncle Jean, a washed-up film director if she can borrow his beachside house to make a film with some friends, but they are in fact planning to rob a bank. During the robbery she falls in love with a security guard. The film intercuts between Carmen's escape with the guard, her uncle's attempt to make a comeback film, and a string quartet attempting to perform Beethoven.
In 1820s Spain the soldier Don José falls in love with the fiery and charismatic factory worker Carmen. Conflicts and grievances multiply, however, as it becomes apparent their views on love and commitment are fundamentally incompatible.