In Cold War Vienna, Milena Flaherty, Theresa Russell, a young American woman in her 20s, is rushed to the emergency room after an apparent overdose. With her is Alex Linden, Art Garfunkel, an American psychoanalyst who teaches at a university in the city. While doctors and nurses race to save Milena, an investigator, Inspector Netusil, Harvey Keitel, begins to piece together the night’s events. Through fragmented flashbacks, the narrative traces the passionate, tumultuous romance between Alex and Milena.
After meeting at a party, Alex is drawn to Milena, a sophisticated yet free-spirited military brat. The two embark on a whirlwind affair, but soon Milena reveals a deep depression and is married to a much older man, Stefan Vognic, Denholm Elliott, whom she occasionally visits across the border in Bratislava. Although Alex initially cherishes Milena’s impulsive, borderless lifestyle, his view shifts as jealousy grows amid heavy drinking and volatile desire. He begins stalking her and confronts the truth of her marriage, which she insists is not a genuine bond and that she and Stefan are not in love anymore. Despite this, Alex digs into Stefan’s past, inquiring with local agencies about divorce, only to learn Milena refuses to pursue it.
The strain intensifies as Alex’s obsession deepens; Milena, meanwhile, feels trapped and alienated. After a heated argument, Milena forces Alex to sleep with her to satisfy his lust, and afterward she is repelled by what she has done. During a Moroccan vacation the couple takes, their car breaks down and a ride with two Moroccan men exposes the widening gulf between them: Alex ends up in the back of the truck while Milena sits between the men, flirting with them as Alex watches in guarded silence. When they reach Ouarzazate, Alex suggests returning to the United States so he can take a teaching position in New York City, but Milena refuses, insisting they live “in the moment.”
Milena later questions the meaning of their romance when she discovers that Alex has treated her life as a case study. He confronts her about a photograph in her apartment that he has fixated on; she explains it shows her with her late brother, taken years earlier in California, but he refuses to believe her. The next morning, a drunken Milena vocally defies him, and he lashes out, slapping her. She then invites him back to her apartment and, in kabuki makeup, taunts him as the “new Milena.” When he storms out, she screams from her balcony, hurling objects onto the street below. The following night, Milena leaves a drunken voicemail hinting at a wish to die.
In the hospital’s present tense, Netusil interviews Alex, who offers himself simply as Milena’s friend. Netusil uncovers timeline gaps and determines what actually happened: after Milena overdoses on poison, Alex watches as she collapses, and then rapes her while she is unconscious. Although evidence suggests the assault, the detective cannot coax a confession from Alex. Stefan arrives and reveals that Milena has survived the overdose thanks to a life-saving tracheotomy. Alex departs, but Stefan notes that loving Milena requires more than personal dignity.
Some time later, in New York, Alex spots Milena near the Waldorf-Astoria and calls out to her. She glances in his direction, revealing a tracheotomy scar, but keeps walking, icily indifferent to his presence.
