A powerful existential drama that won the Oscar for Best Photography at the hands of the Cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Agnes, a lonely 37-year-old woman, has cancer of the uterus and slowly waits for her death. Karin, her older sister, is trapped in an unhappy marriage to an older man whom she finds repulsive; she appears to be well and hides hatred for her husband and a constant anger against life. Maria, the youngest sister, has a stable marriage surrounded by wealth. It is like a spoiled child: gentle, playful and smiling; she is fascinated by her own beauty, never tormented by the limits of morality. Anna is the servant of the house, the only one who can comfort Agnes. When the illness of the latter worsens, the women of his life gather on his deathbed. An intense film, from the most impressive experimental works by Bergman.