Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (Keira Knightley) was a French actress, journalist and novelist, who was eventually nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948. And Henry Gauthier-Villars (Dominic West) was her mentor and first husband. Unfortunately his mentorship included convincing her to ghostwrite for him, bringing him great success and acclaim.

Over time, however, the lack of recognition for her work takes its toll on Colette. Encouraged by her friend the Marquise de Belbeu, she fights to regain creative ownership and free herself from her husband’s control and the societal constraints of her time.