Bitter Harvest

Jennie returns intoxicated and tears through her London apartment, wrecking the room and throwing items into the street. The sequence establishes the frame for the story and hints at the tragedy to come. The chaotic aftermath foreshadows her fragile life unraveling.

Jennie grows up in an economically depressed, former mining town in Wales and works in her father's shabby general store while dreaming of glamour. The town's hardship shapes her early ambitions and resentment toward her family's prospects. Her father plans for her future, including moving to Cardiff to live with elderly aunts as a companion and caregiver.

While wandering through Cardiff with her friend Violet, Jennie meets two well-off older men, Andy and Rex. The men take the girls to a fashionable bar and club, where Jennie drinks heavily and eventually passes out in Andy's car. This night marks the shift from her provincial life toward London’s temptations.

Jennie wakes up naked in a bed in the men's London apartment, having lost her virginity while drunk and estranging herself from her father by staying out all night. The event catalyzes her onward pursuit of independence and glamour. She begins to navigate the complexities of adult relationships in the city.

Jennie goes to meet Andy at a London pub, but he doesn't show. She is befriended by Bob Williams, a kindly barman, which unsettles the barmaid Ella who is attracted to Bob. This friendship sets up a new anchor in Jennie's precarious life.

Jennie tells Bob that she is pregnant and accepts his offer of help. Bob moves her into his flat and supports them both on his wages, with plans to marry her. The arrangement gives Jennie a stable base from which to pursue other ambitions.

Bored with her routine, Jennie attends a party hosted by Bob's actor neighbour in honor of producer Karl Denny. She tells him she hopes to find work as a model or actress and convinces Bob to lend her money for a proper party dress. The party introduces a new, powerful figure in her story.

Karl Denny notices Jennie at the party and asks to see her the following night, ostensibly about an acting role. Jennie accepts the opportunity as a step toward stardom, stepping further away from Bob's plan for a quiet life. The invitation marks the shift toward an affair.

After the party, a drunken Jennie creates a disturbance when she returns to Bob's apartment. The incident strains her relationship with Bob and foreshadows the moral compromises ahead. Her behavior signals a deeper unraveling beneath the surface.

The next night, Jennie fails to return from her appointment with Denny; Bob goes to Denny's apartment to find her. They argue, and Jennie reveals she is not pregnant, does not love Bob, and does not want to marry him. The confession ends Bob's hopeful plan and solidifies her commitment to Denny.

Heartbroken, Bob leaves, and Jennie enters into a relationship with Karl Denny as his mistress. The dynamic shifts from a misguided attempt at stability to a life defined by dependency on a powerful, older man. This marks the fatal deviation from her original dreams.

The flashback ends and we return to the present, where Jennie has died from a pill overdose amid the wreckage of her flat. The police find her address book full of men's numbers, suggesting promiscuity, and the ambulance carries her body past a now-happy Bob and Ella, oblivious to her fate.