An abused woman (Lopez) discovers that the dream man (Campbell) she married isn’t who she thought he was. She and her daughter try to escape (aided by her previous boyfriend, played by Futterman), but he pursues her relentlessly. Fearing also for the safety of her daughter, she decides that there’s only one way out of the marriage: kill him. ‘Fred Ward (I)’ (qv) has a guest-starring role.

1960, small town France. Vianne Rocher and her pre-teen daughter move into town and open a chocolate shop just as lent is beginning. The town’s small-minded mayor can’t accept this and does his best to shut her down, but her warm personality and incredible chocolates manage to win over many townsfolk. Things get shaken up even more when a group of river drifters, led by Roux, stop into town (to the even greater distress of the mayor) and Vianne takes up with him. Meanwhile, she’s been helping Josephine out of her abusive marriage and her equally freethinking landlord, Amande Voisin, get together with her grandson, Luc, whose mother doesn’t approve of Amande’s ways.