In the 1950s in Marsella, Knock is being chased by Lansky and his partner, who catch him and
kick him a couple of times.
Lansky tells Knock he shouldn't gamble if he can't pay, and that he expects to be paid
in twenty-four hours.
Since he doesn't have any money, Knock tries to think of a way to get out of this one and
finds himself at the harbor, where a cruise captain is desperate to find a doctor for
a six-month trip to India.
Knock doesn't have any qualifications other than a past in the army, but since the ship
is about to set sail, the captain is desperate and accepts that Knock will pretend to be
a doctor.
Knock learns as much as he can from the medicine books he finds in the doctor's office.
When they bring in a sick mechanic, the man explains he knows he has typhus because he's
often seen it while sailing, and he's heard what treatments his coworkers used in the
past.
Pretending to test him, Knock makes the man repeat the treatment he's heard of as he writes
it down, then tells him to do exactly that.
Afterward, Knock goes for a walk on deck and sees a lady that has sunbathed for too long,
making her face extra red.
Knock implies she may have a skin condition, then leaves for the kitchen, where he takes
some whale fat to make a fake ointment.
When he gives it to the lady, he pretends is a rare oriental ointment that even Cleopatra
used.
A few days later, the redness of the lady's face disappears naturally because it had only
been a bad tan, but she thinks it's thanks to the ointment and is willing to pay any
cost for more.
After selling her three bottles at a crazy price, Knock checks on the mechanic, who is
doing better too.
The captain is amused at how well Knock's doing and wonders what he'll do after the
trip, to which Knock answers he'll go to medical school.
Five years later, Knock arrives at the small village of Saint-Maurice, where he'll be taking
over Dr. Parpalaid's practice.
Parpalaid is moving to retire in the big city and wants to leave his office in good hands,
so Knock assures him he studied to be a doctor after accidentally referring to the patients
as "clientele".
The next day, Knock pays the mailman to go around town with an announcement: on Tuesday
morning, he'll give every person living in Saint-Maurice a free consultation.
Afterward, he goes to the local pharmacy to meet Mr. Mousquet, whose business isn't doing
well.
Knock uses his charms to reach an agreement: they'll make people think they'll feel worse
than they actually do and share the earnings.
As the mailman delivers the announcement around town, gossip around Knock begins to spread.
He's more elegant than what they're used to, but different is intriguing.
However, priest Lupus thinks a doctor that offers free consultations is suspicious and
must be hiding something.
Some hours later, the mailman goes to Knock for his payment and is approached by Adele
to drop a letter, causing Knock to start developing an interest in her.
Afterward, he gives the mailman his free consultation, already using his charms to convince him his
stress has some hidden sources they're going to treat.
In the afternoon, Knock goes to the local school to speak to Bernard, the headmaster,
to scold him for not having health classes at school.
He leaves him some material to teach the kids about hygiene, including some posters that
may come off as creepy and scary to the kids because of their gritty illustrations.
These posters are also hanging on the walls of Knock's office, so when Tuesday comes around,
everyone is feeling quite uncomfortable while waiting.
Knock's first patient is Adele's employee La Cuq, who feels well and only came because
it's free.
When Knock notices her yawning, he gives her a quick checkup and tells her to diet and
rest for a few days before deciding on a treatment.
At that moment, Lupus arrives at the office and scoffs at everyone for being here when
they never are this eager to go to mass.
After La Cuq leaves, he cuts in line and sees Knock next, intending to give him a piece
of his mind.
However, Knock quickly takes over the conversation, tells Lupus he has conjunctivitis, and sends
him away with a prescription.
When La Cuq returns home, she orders Adele to tidy up her room and get a second mattress;
nothing shall bother her while she rests.
But when Adele coughs, La Cuq doesn't show the same worry for her health and tells her
to stay silent.
Next, Knock checks on the mailman, who is doing much better even if he realizes he needs
to pay for this second consultation.
Everyone in town is happy with Knock's work and impressed by his persona, men think he's
distinguished and smart, women call him charming and handsome, and Lupus can't stop his jealousy.
He's so popular that Elisabeth comes to see him just to gift him a basket of goods she
baked herself and invites him to the mayor's dinner party while trying to flirt.
In the evening, Knock assists this dinner party, where rich widow Pons competes with
Elisabeth to see who gets to flirt with the doctor more.
Knock also takes the chance to invite everyone to the conference he'll be giving at the school
the next day.
In the morning, the classroom is filled with both kids and adults listening to Knock talk
about the kind of illnesses that can be found everywhere.
He calls Didier to the front to give a demonstration, pointing out how to discover bad signs inside
the mouth.
Fortunately, Didier is clean, and Knock congratulates him for his good hygiene, earning him a round
of applause from everyone.
Afterward, Pons sings Knock's praises, which makes Lupus rather angry.
He reminds her that Knock's still very suspicious and urges her to help him find out whatever
she can about Knock's past.
Adele welcomes him and comments on how weak La Cuq has been lately because she hasn't
left the bed and has been on a diet she doesn't need.
However, she doesn't insult Knock for having played her boss like that, in fact, she calls
him smart.
Knock notices Adele coughs a lot and asks her to come to his office sometime, promising
not to charge her.
Afterward, Knock goes to La Cuq's bedroom and offers her an expensive treatment that
she refuses to pay.
La Cuq tries to convince him she's doing fine by doing some exercise, but that only makes
her feel worse, causing her to give in and pay Knock whatever amount he asks for.
A few days later, Knock visits Mousquet for their monthly meeting.
The pharmacy is doing much better now and Mousquet is impressed by the money he's making,
so he's hesitant to lose this when Knock comments on the chances of doubling their earnings.
However, Knock uses his charms once again and gives him a speech about the two of them
being the guardians of this town's health.
Later, Knock's visited by Pons, who manages to get him to visit her four times a week
to check on her health.
She may be flirting, but Knock plays along because of the money that will bring.
Pons also tries to ask some questions about his past, but Knock only gives her vague answers
before dismissing her.
His next patient is Elisabeth, who is desperate to beat Pont and takes off her coat to show
Knock she isn't wearing any clothes.
Her efforts are in vain though, Knock turns her down and asks her to leave.
The night of the town's annual party, Knock notices Adele arguing with her fiance and
leaving the building in a huff, unaware that a newly arrived stranger's also sneaking in
through the window.
This stranger turns out to be Lansky, who has been traveling as a tramp.
Lupus finds him stealing food and tries to call for help, but Lansky grabs him by the
neck and threatens him into letting him stay in the church for a few days.
Back to Knock, he takes his car down the road to offer a lonely Adele a ride.
He scolds her for not wearing gloves and a scarf, but quickly apologizes when she mentions
she isn't in the mood to be chastised.
The two of them chat and bond on the way to her house, and Adele confesses she's broken
up with her fiance.
She also claims to be the only one in town who knows why he's different.
The next day, Adele comes to ask Knock for help with La Cuq's dog, Tom, since she can't
take him to the vet because La Cuq will only pay for the animals that give her money, like
the cows and sheep.
Luckily, Tom's only dislocated his shoulder, thus Knock's able to quickly put it back into
place.
While Tom gets to run around again, Knock confesses he had been jealous of Adele's fiance,
so she asks him to dance with her right there to the rhythm of the birds' singing.
Sometime later, Lansky sees Knock in town and recognizes him, wondering what's going
on.
Knock has come to pick Mousquet up to start a new project at the local hotel, and Lansky
sees it all.
After telling Lupus he'll stay one more week, he goes looking for Knock to ask for money.
At first, Knock isn't afraid of him and pays him double the money he owed him.
However, this isn't enough for Lansky and begins bribing Knock, asking for a big amount
of money in exchange for keeping his secret.
Adele doesn't show up for her date with Knock so he goes to La Cuq's house, who asks him
for a new prescription before confessing Adela has been in bed sick for four days.
Yet when Knock wonders why he wasn't called, La Cuq says she didn't see a reason because
she was feeling better.
Knock rushes to check on Adele and worries when she sees the condition, causing him to
send her to get some tests done at the city hospital.
Before leaving, he leaves her a gift: a scarf with a pair of gloves.
Unfortunately, when a few days later Knock gets the test results, they bring bad news:
Adele has tuberculosis.
Knock calls a friend in a specialized clinic to ask for treatment for Adele, he also promises
to pay for it and requests his friend to keep it a secret from her.
Later, Knock goes to the bar, and everybody falls silent when Lupus begins pointing out
more people are sick now than ever.
The bartender apologizes, pointing out that Lupus is just angry because nobody goes to
church anymore since they're more concentrated on their health, but Knock doesn't let it
bother him.
Afterward, Knock takes Adele to the bus station and says goodbye to her.
Elisabeth's in the area and sees them kiss; feeling bitter, she rushes to the church to
ask for confession.
She tells Lupus an exaggerated version of what she saw and how warm it made her feel,
she also lies about the day she went naked to the doctor's office and pretends Knock
took advantage.
Lansky notices how eager Lupus is to get bad gossip about Knock and after Elisabeth leaves,
he offers to tell Lupus some things about Knock's past in exchange for money.
The next day, Knock goes to check the hotel, which is being transformed into the village's
first clinic.
He learns that Lanksy is there renting one of the last rooms left, and finds him cleaned
up and armed.
Knock gives him the money he asked for, but Lansky grabs it only to ask for more, this
time an even more insane amount.
Meanwhile, Lupus goes to see the mayor to tell him Knock took advantage of Elisabeth
and corrupted Adele into leaving her beloved hometown.
However, the mayor doesn't fall for it, he already knows Adele was sent to a clinic,
and points out Elisabeth is always taking her clothes off for people, including the
mayor himself.
Some days later, Knock receives a letter from Adela, who is very comfortable in the clinic
and feels lucky to have met him.
That night, Lansky comes over for his payment, so Knock promises he'll take out the money
from the bank the next day.
To seal the deal, Knock invites him to toast with whisky, and Lansky takes it without knowing
the doctor tampered with it.
The next day, Lansky is suffering from such an awful case of diarrhea that he sullies
many of the floors and walls of the hotel.
Knock goes to check on him and pretends Lansky's terribly sick, so he promises to help after
Lansky gives him back his money and signs a letter confessing all his past crimes.
Some weeks later, Parpalaid comes back to the village to see how it's doing and he's
shocked to see the finished clinic, not understanding the need for it.
Next, he goes to see Knock and is even more shocked to hear he has 600 consultations a
month.
Parpalaid points out the poor morals behind this method, causing Knock to begin a speech
about the way medicine is reaching the common people that annoys Parpalaid into leaving.
Knock visits Adele and she sweetly tells him the two of them aren't so different after
all because they grew up poor.
Unfortunately, a few days later, Knock receives bad news: Adele has died.
Overwhelmed by grief, he destroys his office.
During the funeral mass, Lupus says Adela died because she put her life in the wrong
hands and mentions Knock's former gambler and thief.
Furious, Knock admits having done bad jobs to survive, but he worked hard to become a
doctor when he had a chance.
After insulting Lupus for bringing this up in the middle of a funeral, Knock leaves,
and the townspeople immediately jump in his defense, also calling out Lupus for having
interrupted such a solemn occasion with these matters.
Meanwhile, Didier follows Knock to his house and notices he's packing his things up.
The kid runs back to the church to tell the townspeople that Knock is leaving for good,
so everyone comes to an agreement: they don't care if Knock isn't an actual doctor or is
a criminal, he's made their lives better.
Ignoring Lupus' pleas, everyone rushes out to the streets to surround Knock's car and
ask him to stay.
La Cuq even confesses she got a letter from Adele saying she wanted him to have Tom, which
means Knock should stay in her honor.
When even a man that used to stutter begs him to stay with perfect speech, Knock cries
and promises the Adele that lives in his heart that this will be his permanent home.