The story is set near Christmas and begins at an extravagant party in the city. The film chronicles three days in the life of a Manhattan couple dealing with the issue of infidelity. Tom Cruise plays Dr. Bill Harford, while Nicole Kidman portrays his wife, Alice: interesting casting on the part of Kubrick, as Cruise and Kidman are married in real life.

The couple separate on arrival to the party to mingle, and reluctantly turn down sexual advances by guests. The host, Victor Ziegler, played by renown filmmaker Sydney Pollack, has Dr. Harford examine a prostitute who has apparently overdosed. The next evening, while the couple are smoking a joint, Alice confesses she would have left her family for one night with a naval officer whom she met while on vacation in Cape Cod. Dr. Harford is then telephoned and informed that one of his patients has died and that his presence is requested. Distraught by his wife's confession, Bill sets out into the Manhattan night.

En route to his patient's home, Harford's mind enacts a disturbing scenario with his wife and the naval officer. On arrival, he is propositioned immediately by his patient's daughter, Marion, played by Marie Richardson. but nobly declines her advances. He leaves, and while walking the streets of Manhattan, is approached by a beautiful call girl named Domino, played by Vinessa Shaw. He follows her to her apartment and is quickly in bed with her, but the moment is halted by a phone call from Alice, who is wondering when he will return. He apologizes to Domino and returns into the night.

Harford is again distracted from his mission to return home when he sees a club called the Sonata Café, where an old college friend is performing. The pianist, Nick Nightingale, tells Harford about a bizarre sex party hosted by some rich businessmen. He says he performs there blindfolded and there is an element of mystery involved Nightingale informs Harford that he shouldn't attend, but if he must, a mask and costume are required. Harford calls on an old patient who had run a costume store. Apparently, the owner moved and sold the business to a man named Milich, played by Soviet actor Rade Serbedzija. It is late but Milich gladly accommodates Harford for an extra $200. While searching the wardrobe, Milich uncovers his young daughter hiding naked with two older Japanese businessmen and is enraged, but continues to prepare Harford's costume.

Dr. Harford arrives at the gates of the mansion. After saying the required password, he enters the grounds. He is taken to a large castle where, in the main room, a sacred rite appears to be underway. It turns into a wild orgy, and Harford nearly engages with one of the voluptuous masked women, until he is pulled aside by another who warns him that he is in great danger. Harford is then discovered by the guests and he is nearly punished, when the masked woman, who had warned him, "vouches" for him. She is led away, by a dark figure with a phallic nose on his mask. Harford is told that he is to never inquire about the party or else he and his family will be punished. Harford sneaks home and awakens his wife, who tells him of a dream she had involving the naval officer at a setting frighteningly similar to the orgy he just left.

The next day, oblivious of the cult's threats, Harford begins searching for the truth. Nightingale has disappeared and the prostitute is found dead. When he returns his costume to Milich, he is amazed when the Japanese businessmen leave the back room, followed by the young daughter, who is barely clothed. Milich is surprisingly friendly to the men as they leave and tells Harford that if there is anything else he needs, implying his daughter, that he can be accommodated. Then, Harford’s friend, Victor, calls upon him. Harford learns that Victor was at the party and that its guests are among the most powerful in the city. He tells him the junkie prostitute from the beginning is Domino and she was the one who saved him from his fate. Victor warns Harford that he had better end his search for answers or else. Again distraught, Harford returns home and confesses the events of the previous night to his wife. They sadly accept the truth and Kidman delivers the last line of the movie. Even though Harford never engaged in sexual activities, the couple mourned the betrayal and decided to rectify the situation by having sex.

The plot of Eyes Wide Shut centers on infidelity. After Alice's revelation, Dr. Harford searches the city for revenge, but gets more than he had hoped. Kubrick continually breaks up Harford's adventure with black and white dream sequences involving Alice and the naval officer, which further fuel his desire to cheat. In each encounter throughout the night, Harford is enticed with sexual advances, but fails to act on them because of interruptions. His loyalty to his wife is tested, but he is never able to fulfill his goal.

The story seemed to trail off into nothing at the end. The characters were well developed and Harford's voyage into the night was strongly constructed, but the last day of the story was a bit shaky. Too much was left to the viewer's imagination and there seemed to be little substance left by the film's end. The storyline on the last day of the movie was choppy and seemed quickly thrown together, which may have been because of Kubrick's death and the studio's finishing of the film without him. It also may have been caused by the fact that it took nearly three years to finish the film. In fact, two of the main characters who had filmed their parts for the film were replaced due to time constraints. Harvey Keitel was originally cast as Pollack's Victor Ziegler and Jason Jennifer Leigh was Marion but both had to back out because of the length of the production and other pending commitments. The scenes had to be reshot with the replacements, Pollack and Richardson. This considerable delay may have been the cause of the lack of continuity found at the end of the film

Aside from the story, the film was brilliantly created by Kubrick. He was a master of his craft. The sets were ideally chosen in that they immediately developed the feeling of power and affluence. On entering both Victor's home and the orgy castle, the viewer is shown extraordinary, museum-like architecture. Kubrick used mesmerizing panning shots that revealed the entire span of the sets. This is a common technique of Kubrick's, one he used also in films like The Shining and A Clockwork Orange. He always had an eye for impressive locations and an ability to make them stun the viewer. In this film, he once again provided a great deal of eye candy for the audience.

Another great technique that Kubrick utilized in the film was the use of lighting to evoke emotion. The party at the beginning of the film used much golden, yellow lighting which showed the wealth of the setting. In scenes where Cruise's character was attempting to have sex, the lighting was dark and red, complementing the scene's themes of passion and lust. When his wife called from home, the lighting was blue and sterile, emitting an emotion of lovelessness. While walking the streets of New York, the lighting was dark and ominous but would quickly alter with the character's changing emotional states. The use of grainy, black and white dream sequences also helped to distinguish the scene's meaning. It made the scene seem distant yet provocative. The colors and shading techniques evoked the moods effectively in the film.

Kubrick also made use of the soundtrack in the film. The opening credits’ song plays into the first scene, where the couple are getting ready for the party. When they leave, Dr. Harford turns off his stereo and the soundtrack is cut off. This also happened at Domino's apartment. While Harford and she were attempting to have sex, the phone rings. The scene began with a raunchy song playing in the soundtrack, but when Harford answers the phone call from his wife, he turns off Domino's stereo and again cuts off the film's music. After Harford's meeting with Nick Nightingale, scenes involving the doctor in precarious situations would have a single note, slowly played on a piano, which would quickly accelerate with the mounting of the character's fears. The piano playing reflected Nightingale's influence on the story's path, as he was a pianist and the catalyst that began Harford's terrifying experiences. The soundtrack was also diverse, in that it had old blues songs, classical music and erotic tunes that all complemented the emotions of the scenes. Like the coloring and darkening of scenes, the music placed various moods throughout the film.

Another interesting aspect of the film was the consistent placement of Christmas trees in nearly every scene. The film is based during the week of Christmas and every time the characters would enter a room there would be a Christmas tree. Kubrick used the trees as the dominant contrast, in that they were the first thing the viewer would see in each opening sequence of a scene. In some cases, it seemed the same tree may have been reused. However at Victor's party the tree was immense, while the one at Domino's inner city apartment was a mere shrub with too many lights. The only place where a tree was not present was the castle, which seemed a place empty of tradition. Its absence reflected the feeling of the ancient, primal decadence which would later occur in the scene. The trees were a symbol of the holidays and hope, in a world that was seemingly hopeless for the characters.

Lastly, Kubrick's use of nudity throughout the picture conveyed the sexual overtones of the film. The first scene following the titles shows Nicole Kidman completely naked, and she would remain naked for most of her appearances in the movie. Also, the overdosed Domino was seated fully undressed under a large painting of a naked woman. The artwork was of a style similar to pieces found in the "cat lady" scene in A Clockwork Orange, and may have been by the same artist. The camera angle had Victor speaking in front of the painting with his head blocking the subject's vagina. Later, scenes would be blocked by characters in the provocative orgy scenes. Guests of the party would stand in front of the fornicating masses, blocking the actual penetration shots, but allowing the viewer to fully understand what was occurring beyond their line of sight. This was not done to merely maintain the film's R-rating, but to also leave much to the viewer's imagination. This could have been done in the final editing by the studio, but may have been done purposely by Kubrick. The nudity in the film was not as much pornographic as it was startling. Kubrick used it to shock the audience, and, in some cases, mock them.

Eyes Wide Shut was sadly Kubrick's last film. Prior to this, he had not made a movie since Full Metal Jacket in 1987. Throughout his career, he had been consistent about spacing much time between films. In the last forty years of a career that had begun in 1950, Kubrick made only nine movies. But these films will forever remain classics. He had a unique vision that no other filmmaker could replicate, but by which many will be influenced for decades to come. He produced, directed and wrote the screenplays to nearly all of his films . He was a master of the craft.. Stanley Kubrick will be dearly missed.