In 1840s England, acclaimed fossil hunter Mary Anning (Kate Winslet) meets Charlotte (Saoirse Ronan) a young woman suffering from Melancholia (oldspeak for depression) and sent by her husband to convalesce by the sea alongside the famous palaeontologist. The friendship is frosty at first, we soon come to realize it’s not just Charlotte who is depressed, but her new strolling buddy as well — a loner with no interest in conversing with the people around her, including her mother (Gemma Jones) who happens to work with her at the fossil shop she manages. Charlotte soon develops a high fever, Mary starts to care for her bed-stricken roomate, and as Charlotte’s spirits improve, so do Mary’s, to the point where lust comes into the equation.