Adapted from the novel by Ron Rash, director Susanne Bier's romantic period drama Serena details the deteriorating relationship between North Carolina timber magnate George Pemberton (Bradley Cooper) and his fiercely independent, entrepreneurial-minded wife Serena (Jennifer Lawrence) following a devastating miscarriage. A woman who isn't afraid to speak her mind and relishes the opportunity for manual labor in the forest, the enigmatic Serena subsequently grows intensely jealous of the woman who previously bore her husband a son, and quickly begins to unravel over suspicions that George is sheltering his illegitimate family.