Set in 1958, Populaire focuses on Rose Pamphyle, who lives with her widowed father and is destined to marry a son of the local mechanic. Rose travels out of town and applies for a secretarial job with an insurance agency run by Louis Échard. Louis learns that Rose can type with extraordinary speed — using only two fingers — and he tells her to compete in a speed-typing competition if she wants the job.

Laura is a 19-year-old university freshman who desperately wants to do well in school. She works a part-time job but cannot make ends meet. One evening in which she is short of funds, she answers a personal ad online by “Joe,” 57, who seeks a female student for “tender moments.” The pay is 100 euros per hour. Laura pledges to do this just once, and three days later, she goes to a hotel room with Joe. And then her spiral begins.