Why does Jack McMillan (Luke Kirby) refuse to eliminate the paper programs distributed before each performance at the Metropolitan Ballet Theater? Perhaps because as a child – the son of major patrons – he would wander backstage collecting signatures from dancers he admired. Today, Jack struggles to cope with budget cuts and negative reviews affecting his company  – a thinly veiled reference to the American Ballet Theatre in New York. Across the Atlantic, the Covid-19 pandemic, dancers' lack of motivation, as well as dwindling audiences threaten Geneviève's (Charlotte Gainsbourg) tenure at the helm of the National Ballet, a fictional counterpart to the Paris Opera Ballet.

But Geneviève  – who had a brief affair with Jack in the past – has a suggestion for him: Why not exchange a few stars between the two companies to add some new blood and pique public interest? Crispin Shamblee (Simon Callow), the troublesome patron of the Metropolitan Ballet Theater, eagerly supports the idea, seeing it as an opportunity to recruit Cheyenne Toussaint (Lou de Laâge), a temperamental star from the National Ballet.

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