Writer Giovanni Pontano (Marcello Mastroianni) and his wife, Lydia (Jeanne Moreau), begin the day by visiting a dying friend in this exercise in alienation and indifference from writer and director Michelangelo Antonioni. Later, Giovanni attends a party for his new book, while Lydia visits their old home in Milan. The pair decides to attend yet another party, where they flirt with others, setting the stage for their marriage's eventual demise.