Stephen is a professor at Oxford University who is caught in a rut and feels trapped by his life in both academia and marriage. One of his students, William, is engaged to the beautiful Anna, and Stephen becomes enamored of the younger woman. These three people become linked together by a horrible car crash, with flashbacks providing details into the lives of each person and their connection to the others in this brooding English drama.

Dirk Bogarde
as Stephen

Stanley Baker
as Charley

Jacqueline Sassard
as Anna

Michael York
as William

Vivien Merchant
as Rosalind

Delphine Seyrig
as Francesca

Alexander Knox
as Provost

Ann Firbank
as Laura

Brian Phelan
as Police Sergeant

Terence Rigby
as Plain Clothed Policeman
CinemaSerf
Dirk Bogarde is a philosophy professor at Oxford University - happily married with two children; and another on the way. He has a favourite student - Michael York who is keen on a newcomer; the glamorous Austrian Jacqueline Sassard. They have a Sunday lunch with an additional guest in Stanley Baker ...