Cissie Colpitts seems to have some trouble with her way to flirtatious husband, and decides to drown him. Her daughter and her niece, both also called Cissie Colpitts, are equally dissatisfied with their respective husbands, and decide to follow in Cissie Colpitts senior’s footsteps. By numbers, the three husbands are drowned, in this slightly absurd, fairy tale-like Greenaway dramedy. By its release Drowning by Numbers won awards for its direction and artistic contribution at Cannes Film Festival and Seattle International Festival, as well as the Audience Award at Warsaw International Film Festival.