Elyot and Amanda, having been divorced for 5 years, now find themselves sharing an adjoining suite at a hotel in Deauville, each on honeymoon with their new spouses (Elyot's young and kittenish wife Sybil, Amanda's husband Victor). The chance reunion re-ignites their passion, upon realising that they still love one another, and both regret having divorced, Elyot and Amanda flee to her Paris flat, where the initial bliss is replaced by the inevitable squabbles and violent rows that had lead to the divorce in the first place. It is a love and hate cycle that repeats itself, and a trap Elyot and Amanda cannot get out of - they cannot live without one another, nor can they live together as they are.
The arguments escalate into physical abuse, and at the height of which, Victor and Sybil arrive at the flat. The jilted spouses display their reasonable understandings towards Elyot and Amanda, and a decision is reached that they be given a year in which to consider and confirm their wishes to be together, thence divorces will be granted.
Each defending their respective spouses, Victor and Sybil start to quarrel. It is becoming clear to Amanda and Elyot that the two are just suited to each other as they are themselves. So the ex-husband and wife decide to forgive one another and tiptoe out of view, leaving Victor and Sybil to their now out-of-hand and soon-to-be violent fights.
