Beginning in England in 1956, the film depicts American poet Sylvia (Gwyneth Paltrow)--who has a history of depression and suicide attempts--attending Cambridge University on a Fulbright Scholarship. While at a party, she meets Ted (Daniel Craig), a dashing student and fellow poet. The chemistry between them is electric, and they become immediately inseparable, their mutual love of verse the glue that holds them together. But Sylvia's success in her art gives way to jealous madness as other women lavish their attentions on Ted. Her subsequent descent into the deepest of depressions leads to her suicide in 1962. In this stirring film, Paltrow hits a high note in her career with her portrayal of Sylvia.