The 47-year-old matriarch of a bourgeois Catholic family, married to a museum curator. She meticulously organizes her family's evacuation from Paris, prioritizing their wealth, social standing, and material comforts. She looks down on the lower classes, even as she attempts to present herself as a charitable, moral woman.

A kindhearted, highly capable secretary at a Parisian bank, deeply devoted to her husband and anxious about her soldier son. Forced to flee Paris on foot when her employer breaks a promise, she demonstrates resilience, independence, and compassion toward other refugees on the road.

The young, gentle son of the Michauds, who previously studied and aspired to become a writer. While recovering from war wounds in a rural village, he finds comfort in the care of the local women and develops a quiet connection with his hosts.

A delicate, blonde foster child married into the Sabarie family. She feels a sense of alienation from her rural, working-class husband and finds herself drawn to the refined manners of strangers, using romantic fantasies as a form of escapism.

A rugged farmer and former prisoner of war who resents both the German occupiers and the French upper classes. Aware of his wife's fascination with refined strangers, he harbors deep insecurities that fuel an aggressive, rebellious stance against authority figures in his home.

A severe, pale, rural middle-class woman who effectively barricades herself inside her fine house. Fiercely patriotic and devoted to her absent son, Gaston, she actively despises her daughter-in-law and treats the occupying soldiers with unwavering, silent hatred.

A quiet, beautiful young woman trapped in a loveless marriage and a tense household. Alienated by her husband's infidelity and her mother-in-law's coldness, she unexpectedly finds intellectual and emotional kinship with the German officer billeted in her home, awakening her from lethargy.

A 24-year-old German lieutenant billeted with the Angellier family. Despite wearing the uniform of an occupying force, he approaches the locals with gentlemanly politeness and bonds with Lucile over a shared love of music, literature, and nature.

The elderly patriarch of the Péricand family, who suffers from dementia. His wealth ensures his family keeps a close eye on him, hoping to secure their inheritance rather than lose it to his favored charity, the Penitent Children.

The eldest Péricand son, exempt from military service due to a weakness in his lungs. He is an Auvergne parish priest charged with leading orphaned boys out of Paris to safety. He struggles with his vocation, preaching Christian love while privately viewing the orphans as inherently sinful and degenerate.

The 17-year-old, chubby-cheeked second son of the Péricand family. One year too young for official conscription, he romanticizes war and yearns to fight for France to escape his mother's overbearing control. He secretly desires her comfort when faced with danger.

A wealthy, acclaimed writer and member of the Académie Française who views the impending war as a personal inconvenience. He is deeply classist, showing visceral disgust toward lower-class refugees while demanding special treatment and luxury accommodations during his flight from Paris.

Gabriel Corte's mistress, who handles his daily affairs, comforts him, and organizes their escape from Paris. The harsh conditions on the road test her patience and shift her perspective on the man she usually coddles.

A financially struggling bank employee who loves his wife deeply. He lacks her forceful independence and depends somewhat on his employer, yet he gamely faces the brutal reality of walking out of Paris when they are abandoned.

A petty, privileged bank manager who conducts his affairs openly and treats his subordinates poorly. He reneges on his promise to drive the Michauds out of Paris, prioritizing his dancer mistress instead.

An independent dancer and mistress to Monsieur Corbin. Characterized by her artificial makeup and confident sexuality, she is ruthlessly practical, discarding men when they cease to be useful and consistently prioritizing her own comfort above all else.

A 60-year-old, misanthropic dandy who values his aesthetic trinkets more than human lives. He disdains the lower classes and views the war primarily as a threat to his refined sensibilities, acting with selfish cruelty to protect his own comfort.

A 19-year-old German officer with pale blonde hair and a harsh voice. He considers himself refined and treats Madeleine like a piece of art, casually pursuing her without regard for the deep anger he stirs in her husband.

A wealthy local aristocrat who masks her deep class anxieties behind a veneer of charitable patronage. She secretly prefers the disciplined German occupiers to the working-class villagers she fears are turning into communists.

An aristocratic landowner who shares his wife's disdain for the local working class. He readily aligns his interests with the occupying forces to maintain his social and economic superiority in the village.

Lucile's husband and Madame Angellier's son, currently held as a German prisoner of war. Prior to his capture, he disappointed his wife by keeping a mistress and resenting her small dowry.