A portrait of a fast, furious, and decadent era that follows the exploits of a group of young aristocrats, slavishly followed by the tabloid press, who refer to them as "bright young things." At the center of the circle is Adam, who runs with a pack of glittering socialites; he embrace every innovation and vice in a breathless attempt to be "modern." Adam, who is well-connected but totally broke, is trying to get enough money to marry his beautiful, bored fiancée, Nina. While his increasingly outlandish schemes to raise cash are constantly thwarted, the party going-and-throwing crowd seems to self-destruct, one by one, in an endless search for newer and faster sensations. Finally, when--out of their control--events come crashing into their world, the "bright young things" are forced to reassess their lives and reconsider what they really value most.