The film's plot centres around the libidinous sexual shenanigans of a middle-class Californian family, and deftly explores themes such as marital discord, middle age, adultery, and incestuous desire.
A novelist is blinded in a car crash that killed his wife and several years later rediscovers his passion for life and writing when he embarks on an affair with the neglected wife of an indicted businessman.
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
A failed novelist's inability to pay the bills strains relations with his wife and leads him to work at an escort service, where he becomes entwined with a wealthy woman whose husband is a successful writer.
A tough, street-smart kid serving a sentence in a state youth reformatory meets a beautiful, innocent girl studying at a nearby convent. When forbidden love blossoms between them, they must fight the prison authorities, their parents and the law.