儿科医生贝克弗朗索瓦•克吕泽 饰与妻子玛格特乔瑟•克罗泽 饰在初次亲吻的老地方旧日重温时妻子被人带走几天后人们寻获了她的尸体警方判定玛格特被一名变态的连环杀手杀害从此贝克陷入了痛苦的思念和懊悔 八年后一封神秘的地暖在邮件发送到贝克的邮箱一份视频令他无比震撼玛格特出现了并约她到公园与此同时两具尸体使警察重新调查玛格特的案件律师通知贝克他遭到逮捕贝克决定去公园一探究竟就此一个潘多拉的盒子被打开
影片主角是一个78岁的英国著名作家他身患重病却仍然酗酒成性口不择言夜晚不时陷于噩梦的缠绕中令他想入非非一边琢磨着他最后一部作品的情节构思一边回忆着他的往事于是噩梦他的想象加上往事的回忆相互混淆在一起共同构成了他作品的故事框架 影片将文学创作的过程跟幻想愤怒等融为一体制造了一个精致的弗洛伊德哑谜这是雷奈的用英版拍摄的影片剧本比较拗口罗嗦有较重的文学味影片被认为是雷奈的杰作博加德的演出尤为精湛但一般观众可能会觉得单调乏味 Clive Langham Sir John Gielgud spends one tormenting night in his bed suffering from health problems and thinking up a story based on his relatives He is a bitter man and he shows, through flashbacks, how spiteful, conniving and treacherous his family is But is this how they really are or is it his own vindictive slant on things,