The Ice Storm, directed by Ang Lee, follows the lives of two typical families in their struggle with each other for love and acceptance. Through scenes of nature and hidden symbolism, Lee captures the quintessence of middle-class suburbia in the seventies. The two families, the Hoods and the Carvers, can't be described by any word other than dysfunctional. Benjamin Hood and his wife Elena have a fairly poor relationship and hardly ever talk to their children, Paul and Wendy. One night Ben and Elena go to the Carver's for dinner.
During dinner at the Carver's house, we are introduced to Janey Carver, her constantly traveling husband Jim, and their two sons, Mikey and Sandy. The adults sit and eat while Mikey and Sandy wait on their every need. While pouring a glass of water, Mikey accidentally spills on Benjamin's lap and Janey immediately begins to mop it up. Here we get our first glimpse of the attraction between Janey Carver and Benjamin Hood. A few scenes later we find out that Janey and Ben are in fact having an affair, the first indication that sex in this story only occurs outside of marriage. .
While the parents of the family hide their sexual escapades from each other and pretend to function normally, the children in the two families also interact with each other. While the innocent Wendy seems to be interested in the older brother of the Carver family, Mikey, she also has many sexual encounters with the much younger Sandy. In one instance Wendy shows Sandy her genitals in the bathroom expecting him to do the same. In his timid youth he fails to muster the courage to undo his pants and resolves the problem by yelling for help. Wendy does however "mess around" with Mikey as well. At one point Benjamin was in the Carver's house waiting for Janey, while Wendy and Mikey were beginning to enjoy each other's company in the basement. Benjamin catches the two in the act and forces Wendy to go home.