Inspired by the visit in Bordeaux of the German poet Friedrich Hölderlin, A Minor Life is the story of a young writer seeking for recognition. He came to Bordeaux to teach the children of a Bordeaux-based family Arabic, but his aspirations become confused when he makes a strange discovery on the river bank. Under the distant eye of a mysterious and secluded man, the character gets lost in a series of peculiar and alienating visions. He goes on a poetic and existential quest that systematically leads him to the Garonne waters, until submersion.