The Days of Fluttering Skirts tells about a day in the life of Sonia Bergérac, an ordinary high school French teacher played by Isabelle Adjani. As usual, she walks casually and without makeup into the classroom where they are rehearsing a play. On this day, their class topic is Molière. However, the students treat her with the same disregard as always, even going so far as to humiliate and mock her. Two boys get into an argument, and Sonia steps in to intervene. In the scuffle, a gun falls out of a student's bag. An ordinary day thus goes off the rails. While trying to take control of the gun, the female teacher accidentally injures a student. In extreme panic, all the mental stress she has accumulated over time explodes. She takes the students hostage. The police quickly arrive, and negotiation experts try to talk to her. But she points the gun at the students while repeatedly instilling in them the value of education.