A 16-year-old boy becomes obsessed with the tempestuous relationship he shares with his mother while drifting through early life and exploring the mysteries of adolescence. Hubert Minel doesn't love his mother, but instead regards her with open contempt; her sweaters are tacky, her decorations around the house are terminally kitsch, and food is always getting stuck around the corners of her mouth when she eats. But it's not just the surface details that drive Hubert insane; his parents wield manipulation and guilt like sharpened instruments of punishment, and the psychological torment is becoming too much to bear. As Hubert's fixation on the volatile love/hate relationship threatens to consume his entire family, artistic discovery, early sexual experimentation, and illicit experiences hint at an undiscovered world of opportunity.