One critic described this film as an "immensely appealing and articulate exploration of the world of the drop-out, which makes almost everything else in the recent spate of films about hippydom seem adolescent." Prologue concerns a young Montréaler who edits an underground newspaper. He and his female companion are joined by a young draft dodger from the United States. In the choices they make, the two rival philosophies of dissenting youth become evident: militant protest or communal retreat. The film includes some of the bloody rioting in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic Convention. Also seen and heard in the film is anti-war and civil rights spokesman Abbie Hoffman.