Alma detests convention. She is interested in the "enfant terrible" of the art scene, the expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka, who causes scandals with his radical works. A passionate affair begins in which different lifestyles collide. Oskar regards Alma as his muse and is jealous and possessive. But Alma herself has ambitions as an artist and composer at a time when this is not usual for a woman. A game of power and dependency ensues that leads Alma and Oskar to the brink of self-destruction.