In the lauded drama of Louis Malle, Lucien Lacombe is still a new man living in rural France during World War II who seeks to combine the French Resistance. The resentful Lucien allies himself with the Nazis and joins the Gallic arm in their Gestapo After he is refused due to his youth. Lucien grows to benefit from the power that comes with his position, but his life is complicated when he falls for France Horn.