During a brutal second ice age, a seal hunter named Essex, [Paul Newman], and his pregnant partner Vivia, [Brigitte Fossey], trudge across a blank, frozen tundra toward the north in search of a reunion with his brother Francha, [Thomas Hill]. The landscape is a vast, silent expanse where heat and hope feel far beyond reach, and every step crunches the cold crust underfoot as they push onward.
Their fragile trek finally carries them to Francha's apartment, a place that briefly promises family warmth before disaster strikes. While Essex steps outside to gather firewood, a gambler named Redstone hurls a bomb into the room, killing everyone inside, including Vivia. Essex catches sight of Redstone fleeing and takes off in pursuit, chasing him to the sector’s dimly lit “Information Room,” where the pursuit abruptly reveals a deeper, more puzzling layer of danger. There, he witnesses the murder of Redstone at the hands of St. Christopher, an Italian gambler whose presence feels both casual and chilling in the aftermath of the chaos. When St. Christopher leaves, a troubling clue remains: Redstone’s pockets contain a folded list of names — Francha, Redstone, Goldstar, Deuca, St. Christopher, and Ambrosia — a thread that hints at a larger conspiracy behind the carnage.
With few answers, Essex heads to a distant gambling resort known as the Hotel Electra in another sector. There, under the assumed identity of Redstone, he is met with a carefully staged welcome by Grigor, the casino’s smooth-talking dealer, who seems to glide through the room with practiced ease. Grigor invites Essex to join a high-stakes Quintet tournament, a game where the participants are drawn into a brutal duel of wits and fate. In this world, Ambrosia, [Bibi Andersson], embodies the perpetual presence of the “sixth player,” a role that shapes the dynamic of the competition and the mystery itself. The atmosphere is thick with tension, where gambling lanes double as corridors of peril and the line between play and life is dangerously blurred.
As the tournament unfolds, the rules reveal themselves in the most chilling way: players who lose a hand in the Quintet are executed in real life. One by one, the primeros — Goldstar, [David Langton], followed by Deuca, [Nina van Pallandt] — are removed from the field, leaving only St. Christopher and Ambrosia in a final confrontation that is as much about survival as it is about victory. Ambrosia pushes to have Essex counted as a participant too, arguing that the ruse of Redstone’s identity should not shield him from the game. Grigor confirms that Essex’s status is real enough to affect the outcome, and he tells St. Christopher that Essex must be eliminated before Ambrosia can face the supposed champion.
Essex and St. Christopher find themselves in a grim showdown that unfolds outside the city’s edge, where the ice itself tears apart beneath the weight of their fight. St. Christopher is killed when he plunges into a rupturing ice sheet, and Essex returns to Francha’s apartment carrying the same ominous list as before, a reminder that the game’s web is far from untangled. Ambrosia trails him to the apartment, intent on manipulating the situation to her advantage, and in a final, desperate moment, Essex slits Ambrosia’s throat to prevent any further harm.
Back at the Hotel Electra, the ritual of cremation for Ambrosia’s body marks a ritual turning point as Essex confronts Grigor about the promised prize. Grigor’s cold response reveals the hard truth: there is no conventional prize beyond the thrill of the game itself, a creature comforts of risk that Grigor revels in. The revelation chills Essex to the core, and disillusioned, he refuses to remain for future tournaments, choosing instead to walk away from Quintet and leave the hotel behind for good.
