When the Monster Is Born

1939. War has broken out, but five-year-old Lucile’s joie de vivre and innocence remain intact. Protected by her loving parents, the little girl spends her days happily in the magnificent landscapes of Haute-Provence. In her spare time, she visits Elsa and Emmanuel, an Italian couple whom her parents are hosting on a farm in the valley. Elsa teaches her to read, makes her delicious pizzas, and tames her fiery temper.
But the days grow darker and sow turmoil in Lucile’s mind. When her mother announces her pregnancy, the little girl’s jealousy and spoiled child demons are awakened. With her friend Amandine, the daughter of a collaborator, she nicknames the baby “the monster.” When Anne is born, the joke turns nasty: to provoke, Lucile publicly claims that her sister is Jewish, putting her entire family in danger.
Her father then decides to reveal the truth to her: her mother faked her pregnancy, and Anne is the daughter of Elsa and Emmanuel, who had to flee in the face of growing threats against Jews. From then on, Lucile decides to do everything she can to protect her fake little sister.
When the war ends, Elsa is reunited with her daughter, Anne—Anna. Emmanuel, meanwhile, has died fighting in the resistance network led by Lucile’s father.