Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Newland Archer, a well-bred New Yorker engaged to an appropriate match: cultured May Welland (Winona Ryder). But when her alluring cousin, Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer), comes along, Archer puts society's mores to the test. Edith Wharton's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel transfers lavishly to the screen under Martin Scorsese's direction, with Ryder earning an Oscar nod for her incandescent performance.