Three teens break into a music shop and find themselves face-to-face with its armed owner. The clerk winds up dead, and the kids run away into the night, his blood on their hands. But the teens are members of a rising post-punk band—and a murder on their conscience is the last thing they need.

Assayas’ debut is a mission statement for the youth-centered portraits of ennui that would recur throughout his career, plus his first display of electric concert scenes. Yes, there are repercussions of an unplanned murder to deal with, but that doesn’t mean relationship and band tensions go away.