Jean Harvey and his wife Gabrielle are renowned within Paris's haute bourgeoisie for the salons they host each Thursday evening.

Jean and Gabrielle live a comfortable yet regimented life in a well-appointed Paris mansion, assisted by a retinue of devoted servants.

On their 10th anniversary, Jean comes home to find a note from Gabrielle in which she writes that within the hour she will have left to meet her lover.

Gabrielle opened in the United States on 14 July 2006 at the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and the IFC Center in Manhattan.

Its consensus reads, "Patrice Chéreau's exquisite rendering of Joseph Conrad's The Return brings underlying passions to surface in a long-suffering marriage".