The film opens with an interview with George Miller about the viability of the film. Gibson's parents are also interviewed about how he dealt with a recent breakup with a woman named Gianna Santone, and he is seen running distraught on a beach in the breakup's aftermath chanting "Gianna Maria Gabriela Santone, why do you leave me and make me so lonely?" In a flashback, Gibson wins an AFI Award for his editing work on
Flirting and walks on stage carrying a camera. At this time in his life, he is dating a woman named April Ward. She moves to London, and he promises to follow. In an interview, Gibson is asked by Ward what he considers "sexy" on a woman. He replies "
Bottoms. Bottoms and
tummies." Gibson then meets Santone at a hotel bar where she works as a
bartender. They begin dating and a series of flirtatious exchanges are depicted. In one long sequence, a naked Gibson searches for a condom in his bedroom so that they can have sex, before finding a box of
LifeStyles. As Gibson plans to fly to London on pre-booked tickets to reunite with Ward, Santone says she does not want to see Gibson anymore. A conflicted Gibson muses to camera about what to do. Before leaving for London, he stops in at Santone's house. As he drives away, he notes that he "forgot" to say he loved her. In a phone interview, his father calls the situation "the height of idiocy." In London, Gibson and Ward throw several house parties and he proposes marriage to her. They then go on a
ski trip, where they have several argumentative exchanges and Ward is upset to learn about Santone. Ward and her friends leave for
Paris. Meanwhile, the
Gulf War begins. Gibson then returns to Australia, where he moves into a house in
Newcastle with Santone and her cat Lewis, who Gibson rescues from being stuck on their house's tin roof. A series of sexually charged moments follow, including one sequence on a beach. Ward writes a series of angry letters and makes emotional phone calls to Gibson, upsetting Santone. As the Gulf War unfolds on TV, Gibson compares Ward to a
Scud missile: "She came out of the heavens from nowhere, she was not very accurate, but she was, morale-wise, psychologically devastating." While Santone works as a radio newsreader at the
ABC, Gibson maintains a full-time career in film editing. Gibson suggests they become a "multimedia couple." He proposes marriage to Santone, which she accepts. Santone takes Gibson to her family home and introduces him to her parents. At a later party, a friend of Gibson talks about earlier sexual experiences involving Gibson, including a
foursome. Santone watches, looking uncomfortable. Gibson buys Santone a $4,000
engagement ring, but then a woman he identifies only as "Katarina the Black Queen" convinces her not to marry him. Santone tells Gibson she's sick of "receiving obnoxious letters from your 'Scud missile' friend." Gibson is able to talk her back around, and plans for the wedding continue. They visit the
Queen Victoria Building as a potential venue and fill out paperwork at the
Births Deaths and Marriages NSW office. Santone is upset that Gibson has not taken down photos of Ward from his apartment, and upends a box of her possessions that Gibson has been packing up. "I hate myself", Gibson muses to camera, "but I like myself at the same time." Gibson also wants to plan a trip to
Nepal, but Santone is not interested. He tells her they will meet under the
Eiffel Tower in Paris, but she is skeptical. Gibson then attends a
sperm bank to freeze his sperm, and masturbates on camera to obtain the sample. As life goes on, Santone grows increasingly irritated with the presence of Gibson's camera. He insists he wants their relationship to become a "media event" and that the resulting film will win festivals. She tells him that the project has no structure, just as Gibson has problems structuring his thoughts. An unnamed filmmaker comes to dinner and calls Gibson's footage "ugly
pornography." Gibson and Santone then go out for
yum cha, and he attempts to reconstruct her reaction after failing to capture it on film. In another argument, she says she wants to go to Paris just for its own sake and not to make a film. Santone begins seeing another man. When she tells Gibson, he reacts aggressively. In a diary entry to camera, Gibson discusses physically grabbing and confronting her on the streets of
Kings Cross as she attempted to run away and withdraw money from an ATM. This is not fully depicted, but in one shot, she is seen running away from behind. She later returns to his apartment to gather her possessions, but he locks the door and refuses to let her leave until she agrees to return the engagement ring, calling her "goods and chattels." Eventually, he is persuaded to let her out by a friend of Santone's outside the apartment. In a montage, Gibson begins to reflect on his memories with Santone and process the breakup. As
Roy Orbison's "
Crying" plays on his stereo, Gibson breaks down in tears. Two years later, Gibson has met another woman, Cindy Carpenter. Together, they travel to
Nepal,
Machu Picchu, the
Amazon rainforest and
Tierra del Fuego. In the final shot, Gibson uses a remote to direct a camera as it films them kissing on a park bench from a distance, and Gibson remarks that they are about to leave for Paris. ==Production==