It is based on the novel Lunes de fiel by French author Pascal Bruckner, published in English as Evil Angels.

British couple Nigel and Fiona Dobson are on a Mediterranean cruise ship to Istanbul en route to India.

They encounter a beautiful young French woman, Mimi, and that night, Nigel chats briefly with her in the ship's bar after seeing her dancing alone.

As a contrast to their sexual adventurousness, Nigel and Fiona meet a distinguished Indian gentleman, Mr Singh, who is travelling with his little daughter Amrita.

[3] On its release in Europe (in 1992) and North America (in 1994), Bitter Moon was a commercial failure and received mixed reviews from critics.

Derek Elley of Variety commented that "Roman Polanski approaches rock bottom" and called the film "a phony slice of huis clos drama" with "a script that's all over the map and a tone that veers from outre comedy to erotic game-playing.

"[4] Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times: "Whatever else Mr. Polanski may be – nasty, mocking, darkly subversive in his view of the world – he definitely isn't dull.

"[5] A positive review came from Roger Ebert, who said "Polanski directs it without compromise or apology, and it's a funny thing how critics may condescend to it, but while they're watching it you could hear a pin drop.

"[6] Time Out commented that "Polanski treats this slightly protracted tale of erotic obsession partly as deeply ironic black comedy", "rich and darkly disturbing" and "also wickedly entertaining.

"[8] According to journalist Matthew Tempest, he and film director Christopher Nolan shared "a soft spot" for Bitter Moon as students.

[10] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 62 out of 100, based on 28 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.