The Gilbert family lives in a small village in the Beauce region of Quebec where they are outcasts and tormented relentlessly by the other villagers who see them as evil incarnate. The father was killed in WWII and the mother and her daughter Gigi were forced by poverty into prostitution. The son, nicknamed Taureau (Bull) by the other villagers because of his size and strength, is simple-minded but friendly and gentle. He is teased by the children, feared by the men and secretly desired by the women - hired to do the unwanted jobs and used as the village scapegoat. Taureau falls in love with Denise, a schoolteacher who sees his inner beauty. Their romance comes under threat from the other villagers who find it distasteful but in actuality envy the happiness the couple have found. Deciding that Denise is Taureau's victim, the villagers, without mercy, set out to brutally punish the young man in a devastating manner.