Lena (Ingrid Bergman) is in love with her married boss, Johan (Lars Hanson), in this romantic drama that takes Sweden's declining birth rate as a backdrop and stirred up controversy with its depiction of abortion. While Lena dreams of marriage and motherhood, Johan's wife is staunchly unmaternal. Johan and Lena have a chance to be together, but their happiness is threatened by blackmail and murder. The great Victor Sjöström plays Lena's fiercely protective father, a newspaper editor convinced that the population problem will be solved by love, not legislation.