Monsieur Naphtali is a good-natured but somewhat feeble older man turned away from the rest home where he lives. In search of a place to stay, he finds his way to Paris, where a woman taking surveys takes pity on him and brings him home for a meal and a bed for the night. Naphtali finds himself spending the evening with the survey woman, her brother who works in publishing, his lovely but unhappy wife, an alcoholic doctor, and his wife, an ill-tempered judge. In a simple and unpretentious manner, Naphtali forces them all to open up about themselves and discuss elements of their lives that they usually prefer to avoid.