Middle aged and widowed Hélène (Delphine Seyrig) runs an antique business from her apartment in Bolougne. She lives with her step son, Bernard (Jean-Babtiste Thiérrée), who is returned and recovering from military duty in Algeria. One day she is visited by an old lover, Alphonse (Jean-Pierre Kérien), and a younger woman who claims to be his niece but is actually his lover. While Hélène attempts to re-kindle her relationship with Alphonse Bernard is haunted by memories of a girl he knew in Algeria, Muriel.

Covering similar ground to his previous two films, Hiroshima Mon Amour and L’Année Derniére à Marinbad, Muriel, Ou le Temps d’un Retour is a jumpy, deceptive work concerning the past, present and memory. Predominant is the idea that we can never really get to know one another no matter how intimate we are.