Thérèse Desqueyroux

Aquitaine, 1920s. The daughter of wealthy landowners, Thérèse Larroque is betrothed to Bernard Desqueyroux, the son and heir of a neighboring family, thereby uniting two of the wealthiest families in the area. Therese, an introvert, who after marrying looks forward to achieving peace of mind, has to take a stand when her sister-in-law has an affair with Jean Acevedo, the son of a rich Jewish family.

She meets with Acevedo and learns of a world very different from the one she was born into. This knowledge plunges Thérèse into doubt about her own life, and makes her unhappy about her arranged marriage to Bernard, whom she likes less every day. She begins to feel trapped and despite giving birth to his daughter, decides to increase the daily arsenic drops Bernard takes for an imaginary ailment.