Anne Elliot (Sally Hawkins) is the overlooked daughter of down-on-his-luck upperclass snob, Sir Walter Elliot (Anthony Head). When forced by economic decline to rent their lavish country estate, Anne is sent to live with her poorer, sickly cousin where she finds herself thrown into the company of her former lover, Wentworth (Rupert Penry-Jones) whom she was persuaded to let go before the movie began. The selfless Anne is forced to prove her constancy over and over as circumstances conspire to make her seem aloof and ambivalent. Will Wentworth be able to see Anne for whom she truly is or will he find love elsewhere?