In 1942, in occupied France, Gilles is arrested to be deported to a camp in Germany. Moments before being executed, he escapes death by claiming he is not Jewish but Persian. The lie saves him for a time, as one of the camp officers wants to learn Farsi for his postwar ambitions. Each night, Gilles secretly invents a language to teach the SS captain the next day, risking exposure at every turn. The strange bond that forms between them soon provokes jealousy and suspicion among the others.