Nine people - three couples, one unmarried mother and two children - try to change and improve their lives by forming big families. Eva feels oppressed by her conventional parents. Vera and Lasse live with their daughter in a depressing suburb environment. Lena lives alone with her three-year-old son Pelle. Sven and Bibi live together in a small one-room apartment where they constantly quarrel. Sven sees the big family most as an opportunity for sexual experiments. A young French medical student, Paul, meets Bibi through common acquaintances and moves into the collective. The reason is simply that he has been attracted to Bibi. Meanwhile, Sven is increasingly interested in Lena.

Marie, a young doctor, settles down on the Ouessant Island. She will be able to win the diffidence of the local population but she will have to fight for her independence after falling in love with an Italian engineer.