In the shadow of Vesuvius, a group of French teenagers on a school trip to Naples face the anxiety and excitement of their last year of high school among the ancient ruins of Pompeii. Toni, impulsive and adrift, his best friend James, popular and self-assured, and Suzanne, an aspiring artist who feels rejected by her classmates, study faded frescoes and argue about their generation’s hopes and failings. As their tired but still devoted teacher tries to open their eyes to the wonders around them, the students’ passions and insecurities push them toward an irreversible rupture.