At a Viennese museum, American research psychoanalyst Alex Linden looks at several erotic paintings by artist Gustav Klimt. Then, Alex accompanies his girlfriend Milena Flaherty, who has overdosed, in an ambulance to the hospital. Milena remembers breaking up with her Czechoslovakian husband, Stefan Vognic, at a border checkpoint in Europe. A doctor wants to know what Milena swallowed and Alex gives him a bottle of her prescription pills. Earlier, at a formal party, Alex and Milena eye each other. When Alex leaves, Milena blocks his way with her leg, they flirt, and Milena gives Alex her telephone number on a matchbox. A hospital attendant prepares a report regarding Milena’s overdose, but Alex is reluctant to provide details. Alex remembers Milena grabbing color swatches from his book "The Color Test" and wanting to know their meaning after she arranges them. He smiles when he tallies her score and tells her she shouldn’t spend any time alone. When Alex and Milena look at the Klimt paintings, Milena wonders if the people in the paintings are happy. Alex says he hopes so. At the hospital, the doctors pump Milena’s stomach. When Inspector Netusil asks Alex what he knows about Milena’s circumstances, Alex remembers a conversation with Milena in which they talked about drifting apart. When Alex asked Milena to move in with him, she refused. He went to a nightclub and watched Milena with several of her friends. Soon, she surprised Alex from behind, hugging and kissing him. The hospital attendant asks Alex to sign Milena’s accident report. Meanwhile, doctors give Milena a tracheotomy and she remembers that her lovemaking with Stefan lacked passion. When Alex met Milena at the border checkpoint, he was jealous to see her with another young man and criticized her about being a day late. They fought and she went back over the border. Later, Alex gets an assignment from the army to develop psychological profiles of two men. As he reviews the files, he sees a photo of Milena attached to Stefan’s dossier and learns she is married. When he wants to know why she never mentioned she was married, she says it wasn’t important. When Alex asks why she married a man thirty years older, Milena says Stefan was what she needed at the time. Alex has photos in Stefan’s file of Milena with other lovers and he becomes obsessed with finding out more about them. Netusil goes to Alex’s apartment to retrace the events leading to Milena’s overdose. Alex remembers how he wanted Milena, but she rejected him. When he tried to leave her, she stood at the top of the stairs, pulled her clothes off, and they had sex on the staircase. Then, Alex left and Milena threw a tantrum. Alex remembers when the two lovers took a trip to Morocco and spent time in the hotel’s roof café overlooking snake charmers. Alex asked Milena to marry him, but she said she preferred to live in the present and not think about marriage. Later, Alex starts a dossier on Milena and she finds it in his apartment. The doctors at the hospital take cultures from Milena for a rape kit. Stefan returns Alex’s call and impatiently tells him that he has no clue about Milena’s whereabouts when Alex says she has been missing for a week. Alex is extremely worried, but Stefan makes it clear he doesn’t want to hear from Alex again. Meanwhile, Netusil’s questions become more intrusive. He thinks that Alex didn’t take Milena’s second suicide threat seriously, but went to see her anyway. Alex remembers waiting all night for Milena until she eventually returned to her apartment drunk. Although he can’t stand the thought of her with other men, she doesn’t want to be owned by him or anybody. Milena asks Alex if she killed herself would that make things better. Alex is in bed with another woman when Milena calls to talk. When she asks him if he is with someone, he lies. She doesn’t believe him and hangs up. When he goes to her apartment, she is wearing a honey-blonde wig and red kabuki makeup around her eyes. She introduces herself as the new Milena; the old Milena is gone. She implores him to stay, but he is fed up and leaves. From her balcony, she screams at him and throws plants and liquor bottles that land on the pavement near his feet. As Netusil continues his investigation, he presses Alex to remember the exact timeline of Milena’s overdose. Alex remembers getting a phone call during which Milena tells him that she wants to give him “a real good-bye.” When he enters her apartment, it has been ransacked and Milena is barely conscious. Netusil has Alex walk him through the events on the night of Milena’s overdose and points out several inconsistencies in Alex’s story. Netusil says that according to toxicology specialists, if Milena had swallowed pills three or four hours earlier, she wouldn’t have been in any condition to call when Alex said she did. Alex remembers berating Milena for her self-destructive behavior until she lost consciousness. With a pen knife, he removes her lingerie and rapes her, saying “anything to get you back, I love you.” Netusil informs Alex he knows Milena was raped, but Alex won’t confess to the act. Then Stefan arrives, announcing that Milena will live, and therefore, Alex won’t be charged with a crime. In New York City, Alex leaves the Waldorf-Astoria and sees Milena as he gets into a taxicab. She turns toward him as he calls her and he sees her tracheotomy scar. She stares at him impassively and turns away, while Alex looks longingly out the back window of the cab as it drives off.