Major Weldon Penderton, a repressed and troubled army officer stationed at a Southern military base, battles intense internal conflicts and growing obsessions. His tumultuous marriage with his wife Leonora, a vivacious and flirtatious woman, is marked by infidelity and disdain. Leonora openly flaunts her affair with Lieutenant Colonel Morris Langdon, exacerbating Weldon's feelings of inadequacy and jealousy. Weldon finds himself increasingly drawn to Private Williams, a young soldier who exhibits a mysterious and ethereal presence. As he becomes more fixated on Williams, Weldon's hidden desires and suppressed emotions begin to surface, creating a simmering tension in his life and interactions.

At the base, Captain Alison Langdon, Morris' emotionally fragile wife, endures her secret struggles while dealing with past trauma and her husband’s infidelities. She develops an unlikely friendship with Anacleto, her eccentric Filipino houseboy, who serves as her confidant. Each character's private torments intersect, leading to strained relationships and burgeoning instability. The interactions between the characters unveil deep-seated fears and unspoken longings, hinting at the tragic unraveling that looms over them. The once orderly lives of the officers and their spouses spiral into chaos as their inner turmoils collide with the rigid structures of military life, setting the stage for an inevitable and dramatic climax.