In this comedy starring audience favourite Emma Thompson, director Sophie Hyde exposes the repressed sexuality of the British middle class and takes aim at it with wit and charm. Newly widowed Nancy Stokes longs for adventure, interpersonal closeness and good sex, which she has been deprived of in her stable but monotonous marriage. Nancy is determined to make up for as much of it as possible and hires a callboy named Leo Grande. As expected, he is extremely attractive, but at the same time an interesting and witty conversationalist. After several meetings and with growing sexual confidence, the dynamic shifts and the facades slowly begin to crumble.