Following her marriage to Sir Clifford Chatterley (Matthew Duckett), Constance "Connie" Reid (Emma Corrin) moves to the family estate at Wragby. Shortly after, Clifford returns from World War I paralyzed from the waist down and emotionally distant, leaving him physically unable to intimate with her and reliant on full-time care. As Clifford becomes increasingly controlling, cold, and obsessed with securing an heir—suggesting Connie take a discreet lover to conceive—Connie finds herself starved for love and emotional warmth. She seeks solace on the estate grounds, where she develops a passionate physical and emotional connection with Oliver Mellors (Jack O'Connell), the estate's gamekeeper. Their secret liaison blossoms into a profound love affair, forcing Connie to choose between social propriety, wealth, and her marriage versus a life with the lower-class man she loves.