Controversial British director Peter Greenaway's erotically charged, loosely structured satire examines the aftermath of a car crash caused by a large swan. The wives of twins Oswald and Oliver Deuce (Eric and Brian Deacon) die in the crash, while Alba Bewick (Andréa Ferréol) survives -- albeit minus a leg. Obsessed with their dead spouses, the twins begin a detailed study of decomposition while both having an affair with Alba.