Trapped in a loveless marriage with her husband Robert (Donald Houston), Francesca (Romy Schneider) transfers all her emotional devotion onto her maturing son, James (Dennis Waterman), who strongly resembles her late former lover, Macer. Unbeknownst to Robert, James is actually Macer's biological son. As James grows older, Francesca's affection becomes possessive and suggestively incestuous, leading to intense jealousy when James falls in love with a young woman named Julie (Patricia Brake). When violent domestic arguments erupt between the parents over the situation, a deadly confrontation forces James and Francesca into a high-stakes legal and psychological crisis.