In Denmark, Torben, a wealthy industrialist who inherited his family’s business, refuses to accept that Christa Pedersen, a former lover who bore his son Rolf, will not reunite with him. Twenty-three-year-old Christa refuses his obsessed pleas that she return to him and yearns for a good husband and father for her toddler, who is being cared for by her parents at their farm. A stewardess at chic Astron Airlines, Christa attracts the attentions of many of the passengers on her flights, among them Umberto, who, after returning to his native Italy, impulsively takes a return flight to Copenhagen in order to get to know her. Umberto is surprised when the generous-hearted Christa makes love to him after a short acquaintance and feels uncomfortable in the communal home she shares with several other free-spirited friends. The inhibited Umberto is also uneasy when Christa later takes him to her favorite nude beach and, complaining of a lack of “mystery,” questions the morality of contraceptives. Christa gently suggests to him that morality was invented by men to control women and that he might discover that her way is better. However, when she introduces Umberto to her parents, she becomes aware of the depth of his discomfort and they break up amicably. Meanwhile, Torben schemes to lure Christa back to him by gaining legal custody of Rolf, and has his lawyer, Lundgren, hire detectives to follow her. Torben tells Christa that he is setting up a trust fund for Rolf, but she discourages him, pointing out that he did not want her to have the child. When Torben tells her that, sooner or later, she will come back to him, Christa flatly insists that it will never happen. On a flight, Christa meets Michael, a young American artist with whom she commences a relationship. She takes him to a midsummer bonfire party called Sankt Hans and shows him sites in Copenhagen. They take Rolf to the park and the zoo, all the while unaware that their movements are being photographed by Torben’s investigators. Christa and Michael spend idyllic times together, camping and running naked in the hills, where Michael, who is intrigued by alternative lifestyles, discusses the idea of group marriage. Although he is only speaking theoretically, Christa asks if he would really be able to “share his wife.” Realizing that she and Michael are at different stages in life, Christa is content to end the relationship when he leaves to tour Europe. Reasoning that she needs a mature man, Christa becomes interested in a divorced, middle-aged Frenchman, Andre Terrane, who is a famous conductor of orchestral music. Although she dutifully sits through his rehearsals, Terrane, who is used to receiving sexual favors, tells her frankly that women at first admire his devotion to his music, but later resent it. Terrane suggests that she can find the maturity she is seeking in a younger man. Meanwhile, Christa’s housemate Ellen, a stewardess in training, becomes infatuated with Torben. Bewildered by her friend’s rejection of the rich and attractive businessman, Ellen begins a one-sided relationship with him, aware that he does not really care for her. When Ellen asks Christa why she left Torben, Christa explains that, several years ago, after meeting him at a school gymnastic competition at which he was officiating, he moved her in with him and she believed she was in love. However, when she became pregnant, he wanted her to abort and, against her will, brought a doctor and two nurses to perform the operation at his beach house. Christa explains that they tried to convince her to submit, but she drove off hurriedly, leaving all her clothes and possessions behind. Ellen hopes that Torben has changed since that time, but he becomes increasingly reckless with his life, driving dangerously fast in his sports car and making unwise decisions regarding his business. Christa continues to pursue a separate life and offers Derek, an Australian lawyer booked on one of her flights, a lift from the airport. Derek is intrigued by Christa, but unhappy with his work in London, and when he spends a day with Christa and her parents at the beach, he expresses nostalgia for his homeland. Feeling that their meeting at this particular time in his life is significant, he asks Christa to spend time with him. Upon learning that Christa has gone on vacation with Derek, Lundgren alerts Torben that the information they have compiled about her multiple relationships, coupled with her abrupt decision to take off work, is enough to prove in court that she is too irresponsible to have custody of Rolf. When they return, Derek is obligated to clear up his affairs in London, but before going, he expresses his love for Christa and asks that she and Rolf accompany him to Australia. As Torben’s business problems escalate, his father’s friend criticizes him for destroying his family’s two-hundred-year-old firm and the livelihood of its many employees, and calls Torben a “disgrace to his class.” Despite his financial problems, Torben continues to pursue Christa and tells her of his plans to prove in court that she is an unfit mother. Frightened of losing Rolf, Christa agrees to return to him and writes Derek to break off their relationship. When Torben’s application for a loan is denied by the bank, his company collapses. Overwhelmed by his failures, he plans a triple suicide and tries to get Christa and Rolf in the car with him. Aware only of his distress, Christa refuses to take Rolf, but joins him in the car, soon realizing by his wild driving that he plans to kill them. The gentle touch of Christa’s hand on Torben’s face causes him to stop the car, but he pushes her out and races away to die by crashing into a retaining wall. Some time after his funeral, Christa is entertaining Rolf at the beach, when Derek reunites with them.