12-years-old Manon promises her younger brother, Mimi, that they will stay together, despite their difficult family circumstances and the ominous signs of being put into foster care. During the height of Quebec's FLQ Crisis in 1970, they stage their own rebellion by kidnapping an elderly woman and hiding her in the country, aided by their two cousins.
In 1863, a group of snow-bound travelers invokes the devil, who gives them a flying canoe for them to go home. When one of them finds his wife about to die in labor, he makes a pact with the devil to save her and his newborn daughter Liza. He then cheats the devil of his prize by sacrificing himself. 25 years later, Liza wants to marry her beloved Jos, who has to go away to a remote logging camp to earn money to save his farm, but the devil is determined to ruin her happiness.