In Zola's masterpiece of naturalistic fiction, a young idealist instigates a strike in a 19th-century mining community, setting the stage for a brutal clash between labor and capital.

Set in the lower echelons of 1860s Paris, Therese Raquin, a sexually repressed, beautiful young woman, is trapped into a loveless marriage to her sickly cousin Camille by her domineering aunt, Madame Raquin. After she meets her husband's alluring friend Laurent, she embarks on an illicit affair that leads to tragic consequences.