Headstrong American heiress, Isabel Archer (Kidman), travels to England. She tactfully rebuffs the advances of Caspar Goodwood (Mortensen), another American who has followed her there, and likewise rejects the proposal of a decent, sensible English suitor, Lord Warburton (Richard E. Grant), because she wants to find her own destiny and identity first. Instead, she is seduced by Gilbert Osmond (Malkovich), an effete collector of art (and women) whom one character describes as a “sterile dilettante.” The film explores how Isabel’s life, and the lives of those who love her, are affected by this fateful decision.