The immature young ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Franz Joseph, was extremely shy around women but (according to this film) was constantly being propositioned, lewdly or otherwise, by ambitious courtesans. When he was finally married to his Empress, the teen-aged Bavarian princess Sisi (Elizabeth), it seems that his relief knew no bounds, for he was now sure that he would never have to think about sex ever again. According to the filmmakers, this is the true history of that marriage. This story is a complete reversal of the romantic legend depicted in the popular 1955 film Sissi, which helped brighten the emerging stardom of Romy Schneider.

Loic and Sophie are siblings living with their mother in a block of flats. The impetuous, promiscuous Loic is a talented photographer about to make it to the big time, but being pulled back by loyalty to his best friend and ex-lover, both junkies. Sophie, a schoolgirl on holidays, is quietly undergoing a sexual awakening, observing from a distance Loic's milieu; she begins an affair with his business partner to Loic's quasi-incestuous disapproval. Loic is spotted by a prominent editor, but becomes increasingly unhinged, by his friend's violent struggles with dealers, by his lover's demands, by Sophie's 'betrayal', by his own 'demons'. Tragedy inevitably strikes.