Desiree, an actress, and her ageing mother are giving a party. Two of the invited guests, Count Malcolm and Fredrik Egerman, a middle-aged lawyer, are romantically involved with Desiree, a cause for murderous jealousy between them. Meanwhile, Egerman's youthful wife, Anne, who has thus far repulsed all sexual advances on her husband's part, is showing a considerable interest in her stepson. During the course of the evening, various alliances are formed and dissolved, partners are switched, libidos are unleashed and true love is never far around the corner. This delightfully bawdy comedy by Ingmar Bergman was inspired in part by Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' and later formed the basis for Woody Allen's 'A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy'.