Isabel Archer, a free-spirited American woman, travels to Europe to get closer to herself. Once in Europe, the two cultures collide enormously and the environment begins to oppress her. Isabel notices that she has been followed by another American, Caspar Goodwood, and begins to worry. Her cousin, to whom she has entrusted all her secrets, is mortally ill and the creepy Madame Merle makes her even more unstable.