The Draughtsman’s Contract

Neville, a young and ambitious artist, signs a contract with Mrs Virginia Herbert to paint twelve landscape drawings of her country house, its outbuildings and gardens, as a gift for her husband who is away on business. Part of the contract is that Mrs Virginia Herbert agrees to comply with Neville's sexual demands, creating an uneasy power dynamic from the outset.

During Neville's stay at the estate, the two pursue a series of sexual encounters. Mrs Virginia Herbert shows reluctance or distress, while Neville's insistence remains coercive.

Neville becomes disliked by many inhabitants and visitors on the estate. The German son in law, Mr Talmann, stands out as particularly hostile.

Mrs Herbert grows weary of Neville's appetite and tries to terminate the contract before the drawings are finished. Neville refuses to end the arrangement, and the encounters continue.

Mrs Talmann, the Herbert family daughter, uses blackmail to push Neville into a second contract. He agrees to fulfill her sexual demands rather than hers.

Mrs Talmann wants to become pregnant and believes Neville can help, despite her husband lacking interest. The second contract is arranged to accommodate this aim.

Mr Herbert does not return and his dead body is found in the moat, signaling a grim turn in the estate drama.

Neville completes the twelve landscapes and leaves the estate, having woven the sessions of the contract into his work as well as his own fate.

Neville returns to the estate to work on a thirteenth drawing, and he and Mrs Herbert share another sexual encounter during this visit.

Mrs Herbert indicates that her daughter's plan to conceive with Neville has apparently succeeded, intensifying the sense of entrapment and manipulation around Neville.

A masked man, later revealed to be Mr Talmann in disguise, is joined by the estate manager, Mr Noyes, their neighbor Mr Seymour, and the Poulenc twins to confront Neville. They accuse him of murder and of sexual violation, signaling a planned end to his freedom.

Neville protests, but the assembled group blinds and beats him to death. They cast his body into the moat, at the same location where the husband body was found, sealing Neville's fate.