Margot

A girl named Margot plants the seed of a tree and it begins to grow downwards, generating perverse effects in a small village. Margot will have to find a way to balance the good and evil, helped by her sister and unexpected assitants.

It is a story that blends the fantasy of the rural universe and the modernity of progress, set in the Landes de Gascogne (France) in the 19th century.

A girl named Margot plants the seed of a tree after her mother’s burial. It is a family tradition: life goes on. But for her, nothing continues—everything has changed in a very short time. Without her mother, with her father forced to leave as a resin picker, she and her sister now live in their grandparents’ house.

A similar feeling spreads throughout the Landes, stirred by the new law of massive pine plantations promoted by Napoleon III: a longing for the past, distrust of changes brought from “outside,” and simmering resentment. And, without anyone noticing, Margot’s tree grows downward, causing strange transformations in its surroundings.

Not long after, Margot discovers an old book in an abandoned convent, setting events in motion. The Guard—apparently an employee of the new landowner—fires at a group planning sabotage against the plantations. In the blaze that follows, Margot flees into the marshy forest.

There, with the help of an old shepherd, she learns that some things lie beyond human reach: healing springs, twisted trees, and far worse beings—like the Guard, who intends to kill her before she can find a way to destroy the tree’s roots.