A closed-minded conservative couple masquerade as liberal do-gooders in late 60's France. With orders piling up at their bistro, The Full Belly, Loretta and Henri, self-described "pillars of the community," hire Diamantine as a waitress in order to give a poor black orphan a break. At home, they tell their trusting, new live-in employee that she's "one of the family," yet in town they encourage widespread disapproval of her. When they convince her to carry an extended joke to full term - pretending she's pregnant - Diamantine, and a slightly shady friend of the couple, Jan, become entangled in an elaborate charade.