芳齡十八的妮莉，原本長年與養母同住瑞典鄉間，平靜的生活就從某天生母忽然來訪開始變奏。她隨著生母來到斯德哥爾摩一探究竟，大城市為她帶來從未經歷過的體驗，也啟迪了她的愛情視野。但偏偏她的愛慕對象卻是生母的情人，母女關係猶如緊繃之弦，悲劇是否註定發生？影片當時雖然票房不佳，卻是柏格曼初執導演筒的處女作。

斯蒂格（维克多·斯约斯特洛姆 Victor Sj?str?m 饰）是一名小提琴演奏家，在交响乐团中，他邂逅了名为马塔（玛伊-布里特·尼尔松 Maj-Britt Nilsson 饰）的美丽姑娘，随着时间的推移，两人渐渐坠入了情网，最终，他们决定携手步入婚姻的殿堂。婚后的生活充满了幸福和快乐，不久之后，两人有了他们爱情的结晶。 　　不幸很快就降临了，斯蒂格想要成为小提琴独奏家的梦想与他的生活渐行渐远，失望、愤怒、挫败感的折磨之下，他将自己的压力发泄到了妻子和孩子的身上。不仅如此，斯蒂格还有了一个情人。知道了一切真相的马塔愤怒的带着孩子离开了背叛她的男人。

A movie director is approached by his old math teacher with a great movie idea: the Devil declares that the Earth is hell. The director rejects the idea, but subsequent events in the life of a writer, a friend of the director's, and a young prostitute he loves seem to prove the math teacher's idea.

　　Atka Natas is a secret agent from the oppressive regime of Liquidatzia. He visits his estranged wife Vera, a chemist who is involved with a group of exiles trying to smuggle their compatriots out of Liquidatzia. Almkvist, an honest local policeman and former lover of Vera's, contacts her while investigating the death of one of the refugees. Natas has a list of agents operating in the host country and wants to sell them to the Americans. However before he can do so, Vera tries to kill him, after an argument about getting her parents out of Liquidatzia.