Synopsis:

Back in 1975, Nicolas Philibert was a young assistant to film maker René Allio. They made the film "Moi, Pierre Rivière, ayant égorgé ma mère, ma soeur et mon frère" (I, Pierre Rivière, having cut the throat of my mother, my sister and my brother). All the main parts were played by peasants of the region. Thirty years later, Nicolas Philibert went back to Normandy to find those peasants and see what they had become. He told their story in his new movie: "Return to Normandy".

All the peasants remember exactly the film of 1975 as a wonderful experience. Lucidly, all of them knew that it would be a one-time experience and no one dreamed about becoming a famous actor.

"Return to Normandy" jumps back and forth in time, between present time, the shooting of the movie in 1975 and the triple murder committed in 1835 by a young peasant of the region, Pierre Rivière. Throughout the movie, the peasant playing the main role, which of Pierre Rivière, remains a mystery until the end: both the spectator and Nicolas Philibert himself are surprised to find out what he became after taking part in the movie...