Dot Rita Tushingham and Reggie Colin Campbell are a working-class Cockney couple who marry in a burst of teenage romance, but their partnership quickly proves fragile. The honeymoon at a seaside holiday camp is rocky from the start, as Reggie grows distant from Dot’s brassy, self-absorbed demeanor and the spark between them begins to fade. The connection that once felt strong begins to feel strained, and both sense that life outside the church and the registry office will pull them in different directions.
As time passes, they drift into increasingly separate lives. Reggie falls in with his biker friends, especially the eccentric Pete Dudley Sutton, while his interest in Dot’s romantic and sexual life wanes. The family dynamic complicates things further after Reggie’s grandfather dies. Dot complains that his support for his bereaved grandmother has kept them from going to the cinema, and her boorish behavior at the funeral—paired with a stubborn refusal to move in with the grandmother—sparks a major argument. Dot leaves, and Reggie stays with his grandmother, who will not leave her own house. He invites Pete to stay as a lodger, and the two share a bed at the house, intensifying the sense of confusion and longing that surrounds Reggie’s life.
Dot’s gaze drifts toward Brian, another biker. The tension between the two couples comes to a head during a series of events, including Dot’s decision to try to win Reggie back by pretending to be pregnant. Dot sits with Brian and tells Reggie of her “pregnancy,” prompting Reggie to blame Brian, and a vicious fight erupts. Dot then visits Reggie’s grandmother’s home and discovers that he is sharing a bed with Pete. She taunts them, calling them “queers,” and Reggie is unsettled, asking Pete to deny any homosexual relationship—even as Pete dodges the question.
The bikers organize a grueling race from London to Edinburgh and back, and Reggie, Pete, and Brian all take part. Dot rides with Brian, and when Brian’s bike breaks down, Reggie carries Dot. Dot finally admits she is not pregnant, reviving the uneasy possibility of a renewed connection between her and Reggie. Yet the moment is fleeting, as Pete manages to pull Reggie away, taking him to the pub for a confrontation-filled interlude.
When the pair return, Reggie decides to try to go back to Dot, but the next morning he discovers her in bed with Brian. In despair, he meets with Pete and says he wants to leave for America as soon as possible. Pete claims he can arrange passage on a ship, and for a moment the plan seems to offer an escape from the tangle of relationships.
While Pete is arranging things, he leaves Reggie in a pub in Silvertown near the Royal Docks, a place that turns out to be a gay venue. Reggie realizes Pete’s secret when one of the clientele starts chatting him up. Pete enters the room, and the pair are confronted by the recognition of what Pete’s sexuality means in their fragile world. Reggie, faced with this revelation, chooses to walk away, leaving the pub and his former life behind as the truth of Pete’s identity unsettles his plans for the future.
