Synonyms begins with the protagonist Yoav (Tom Mercier) breaking into a luxurious but unoccupied apartment looking for a place to sleep for the night. The clothes on his back, the few things in his bag, are all of his worldly possessions. After a night in the austere accommodations, he takes a shower, and during that shower, someone steals all of his clothes and his bag.

Frantically he runs, naked and dripping wet, down the stairs and after the thief, but it’s too late; his things are gone. Rather than chase them into the street, he returns to the apartment and passes out in the tub, seemingly waiting for death.

This franticness is at the heart of Yoav’s character. He’s in France feeling his past self with the sole, desperate intention to form a new self. But is that even possible?

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