Wanda, a mysterious dominatrix, opens a gallery of S&M erotica. Being cruel is her profession while inventing traps is her specialty. Justine, the innocent American, has to learn that passion is just another illusion. Mr. Mahrsch, a journalist, is granted an interview only after having practical experience. Only Caren, an eccentric businesswoman — and Wanda's lover — thinks she knows what life is all about.

The film presents the world of masochistic lust as a performance of hidden desires. The rules are extremely severe and the game extremely cruel, but the participants know what they've agreed to. Both male and female characters function as archetypes in this closed universe that exists beyond psychosocial reality. Ironically, the images are highly stylized and rather harmless. This aesthetic distancing is compensated for by the point of view the camera takes, engaging and seducing us into a masochistic position. A position we share with the characters in the film.