In 1930s Japan, a former prostitute named Sada Abe finds employment as a maid at an upscale inn. She soon begins a torrid affair with the inn's owner, Kichizo Ishida, a man with a hedonistic streak. Wasting no time, their mutual attraction quickly escalates into an all-consuming and highly sexual relationship. The intensity of their passion secludes them from the outside world, and they become fixated on physical pleasure to the exclusion of all else.

Their obsessive relationship pushes beyond societal norms and even legal boundaries as they abandon themselves to their desires. In the midst of their reckless liaison, the inn’s daily operations and their personal responsibilities fall into neglect. The boundaries of their relationship blur as Sada's possessiveness grows, leading them further down a path of mutual destruction. As their intimacy deepens, the couple's actions become increasingly erratic and extreme, resulting in tragic consequences that reveal the darker side of human desire.