The film opens in a Christchurch courtroom, where testimony sparks Barbara Leslie, Jean Simmons, to flash back to the events that led to the trial. Barbara’s sisters—Anne, Evelyn, and Delia—live in a town where nearly all the men, including their brother Kit and Barbara’s new husband Mark, head off to World War II. Delia, newly engaged to Phil “Shiner” Friskett, seems poised for a bright future, but the mood turns somber when Kit’s death cuts the celebration short. The elder, judgmental sister Anne offers little warmth to the upcoming marriage, while Barbara defends Delia’s choice and her sister’s happiness.
Within weeks, the sisters’ world is shaken by the rhythm of wartime reality. Delia, now married to Shiner, soon grows disillusioned as the abuse she suffers becomes too much to bear, and she moves to Wellington to work for the New Zealand Navy. In Christchurch, hundreds of U.S. Marines arrive after the Pearl Harbor attack, and the lonely local women are flattered by the attention and flirtations they bring. Evelyn invites Capt. Richard Bates, Charles Drake, to dinner, but he declines, though his presence still lingers and catches Anne’s eye.
Anne’s concern grows when Barbara is sent to Wellington, where she discovers Delia renting a room at the St. George Hotel under her maiden name. Shiner has become a POW, and Delia has begun a relationship with an American lieutenant named Andy, who later introduces Barbara to his friend Jack Harding, Capt. Jack Harding, Paul Newman. Barbara hopes to stay faithful to her husband, yet she finds herself drawn to Jack’s quiet, probing presence.
Back in Christchurch, Anne is outraged by the crude remarks of American servicemen in a lingerie shop and writes a stern letter to the local paper. The Marine Corps sends Dick Bates to apologize in person and deliver perfume for each sister, a gesture that only heightens Anne’s suspicions and accusations of seduction. Soon afterward, Barbara and Anne learn that Mark has fallen in North Africa, and Dick returns to New Zealand with a shrapnel wound that slows his pace. A fragile romance begins to bloom between Anne and Dick, spurred by proximity and shared vulnerability, though offshore duty interrupts their plans and leaves Anne hopeful about their unborn child.
Jack arrives in Christchurch to investigate Anne’s case, and he warns that wartime romances can spring from loneliness rather than real love. Barbara resists this blunt assessment, insisting that feelings can still be meaningful under pressure. The Christmas season stitches the family closer together: Dick contemplates departure, Jack and Barbara share a charged embrace, and the Leslie home feels both festive and fragile.
Months pass, and Evelyn’s sweetheart Tommy returns from the front with a proposal for marriage. Barbara, moved by a note from Dick’s mother seeking news of her son, writes to that family, and money is sent to help Anne and her baby move to Oklahoma to live with relatives. The day Anne and her baby depart coincides with news of the war’s end in the Pacific, bringing a bittersweet relief to the household.
Delia’s arc takes a darker turn as she travels to Wellington to press for a divorce so she can pursue a life in America with her newer lover. Shiner, newly freed from captivity, confronts Delia and kills her with a Japanese sword he had brought back from the war, a brutal act that shatters the already wounded family.
Weeks later, the murder trial puts Jack’s investigation into the spotlight, and his testimony details Delia’s seven affairs with American soldiers. Barbara processes the revelation with a mix of shock and anger, feeling that the law’s harsh glare casts doubt on the sisters’ choices but leaves room for judgment of the consequences. Rather than flee with Jack, Barbara pauses, reflects, and then chooses to face the future on her own terms, packing her belongings and arriving at Jack’s hotel with a quiet resolve to start anew, ready to embark on a life with him if the moment feels right.
