Lily is a ravishing socialite who quickly discovers the precariousness of her position when her beauty and charm start attracting unwelcome interest and jealousy. She seeks a wealthy husband and, in trying to conform to social expectations, she misses her chance for real love with Lawrence Selden.

Erotic desires and cunning duplicity permeate the air in Terence Davies’s exquisite adaptation of Edith Wharton’s classic novel. Reigning over sumptuous tableaux of early-20th-century New York City is Gillian Anderson’s alluring socialite, tragically torn between romantic and financial aspirations.