Roman Polanski co-writes and directs this adaptation of Thomas Hardy's novel, with Nastassja Kinski starring in the title role. In 19th-century England, a peasant farmer discovers that his family are descended from a noble family, the d'Urbervilles so he sends his daughter Tess Durbeyfield (Kinski) to live with her rich cousin, Alec d'Urberville (Leigh Lawson). After having a baby by him that dies in infancy, Tess runs away and meets a farmer named Angel Clare (Peter Firth) with whom she falls in love and marries. When she tells Angel about her past he is heartbroken and hastily rejects her, leaving Tess to return to Alec. But when Angel returns home, Tess kills Alec in order to be with the only man she has ever loved, Angel.