Gemma Bovery is a French film adapted from Posy Simmonds' graphic novel of the same name, which is itself a modern reimagining of Gustave Flaubert’s classic novel Madame Bovary. The film blends romantic drama, satire, and metafiction, exploring how life can imitate literature — sometimes tragically.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00an English couple named Gemma and Charlie just recently got married they live a happy life
00:10together however Charlie's divorce with his ex-wife has taken a financial toll on them
00:14because of this they decided to move to an old house in a small but peaceful town in France a
00:20French guy named Martin sees the couple who are moving in and he introduces himself to them Martin
00:26tells his family that their last name is Bovary and it amazes him because their first names are
00:30almost identical to the characters on the novel Madame Bovary Martin is a baker and owns his own
00:36bake shop one day the couple comes over to his store and Martin couldn't help but stare at the
00:41beauty of Charlie's wife later that afternoon the old man bumps into Gemma and he teaches her a
00:46shortcut going home on their way Gemma notices a large mansion and Martin says it belongs to a
00:52wealthy family as they bid farewell Martin becomes much more infatuated with the woman
00:57one evening Charlie goes to the old man's house and asks for help because they lost electricity
01:02Martin comes over to help them fix it and they later invite him and his wife for a drink during
01:08the conversation all that Martin does is stare at Gemma and he can feel that the woman is longing
01:13for something Gemma starts to complain about their old house it's cold the roof leaks and it is infested
01:19with vermin she looks outside the window and looks very upset one day Gemma goes to the bakery and
01:25Martin invites her to see how he makes the bread he teaches her how to knead the dough gently and Gemma
01:30says it feels relaxing and magical it starts to get warm so the woman pulls up her hair and takes off
01:36her jacket seemingly seducing the old man the next day the neighbors gather for lunch Gemma is a good
01:42painter so Wizzy brings her inside their large house to have it decorated by her one day while walking
01:48through the shortcut Gemma gets stung by a bee Martin sees her and helps her get rid of it he says that
01:54he must suck up the venom and Gemma tells him to do it now a lad from the big mansion named Harvey sees
01:59their awkward situation and he asks what is going on as the old man is trying to explain Gemma suddenly
02:05fainted they bring her to a clinic and the doctor says that she was just having an allergic reaction Gemma
02:11thanks the two lads who helped her and as they are traveling home Harvey can't help but stare at his
02:16beautiful passenger Gemma leans on Martin's shoulder and the old man thinks that the young lady is
02:21starting to like him Wizzy visits Gemma to talk about the color she wants for her house she shows
02:27her a magazine which features her friend Patrick and his wife's house Gemma is surprised because Patrick
02:33is her ex-boyfriend she remembers when they were still happily dating until one day she catches him
02:38cheating with another woman so she decided to leave him Gemma is upset because her ex has been living a
02:43good life while she is struggling in a poor house with her miserable husband one day Martin sees Gemma in
02:49a flower shop she is approached by Harvey and the old man can see that there is a strong romantic tension
02:55between the two Gemma's mood starts to brighten up and one time at a grocery the two get to see each
03:00other again after advising her which wine she should buy Harvey invites her to their mansion on the road
03:06Martin sees her behind his car but instead of heading straight home the young wife turns right
03:11the old man seems disappointed as she sees her parked outside the mansion that evening the neighbors
03:17gather for dinner at Gemma's house and Martin couldn't stop thinking what the young wife was
03:21doing at the mansion and when he sees a hickey on Gemma's neck the old man concluded that they actually
03:27did it he felt sad for her husband who is clueless about her affair Gemma frequently goes to Harvey's
03:32mansion and Martin wanted to tell her to put an end to it because she might meet the same tragic fate
03:37as Madame Bovary in the novel the next day Gemma goes to the bakery Martin asks how is her husband
03:43doing and she says that he is in London for work after paying Gemma hurriedly leaves but she left a
03:49piece of bread on the counter Martin delivers the bread to Gemma's house but then he sees that Gemma's
03:54boy toy is there and this crushed the old man's heart one day Gemma tells her clueless husband that
04:00she will just be going for a walk she sneaks into the neighbor's mansion and as they are doing it
04:05they accidentally knock over a very valuable figurine Harvey says that his mother would kill
04:10him and Gemma assures him that her husband could fix it because it is his job before leaving Gemma asks
04:16the young lad to come with her to London and Harvey promises that he will however the next day Gemma
04:21receives a mail from the lad saying farewell to her she tries calling him but he wouldn't answer in the
04:27mansion Harvey's mother Edith is looking for her precious figurine and the lad says it got a little
04:32scratch so he brought it to a skilled restorer Gemma is uneasy so she decides to go to the mansion
04:37however she receives a text from Harvey saying he can't go with her to London the young wife is
04:43heartbroken and goes home crying Edith later goes to their house and asks Charlie for the figurine
04:48Charlie says he didn't receive one and he does not know her son Edith rides the car where Harvey is
04:54waiting and together they leave for Paris Martin watches them and it seems that he had something to
04:59do with it that evening Charlie tells his wife about the figurine and Gemma decides to tell him the truth
05:04but before she could say anything Charlie says he does not want to hear it it seems that the husband
05:10already has a hint about her affair because she has been acting strange lately Charlie packs up and heads
05:15back to London leaving Gemma alone in the house when Martin visits her Gemma shows him a letter written in
05:21French and asks for his help to read it Martin says it is from Edith's lawyer asking for the return of
05:27the figurine Gemma says it was in their house but she couldn't find it she asks Martin's help to write
05:32a reply but the old man keeps getting distracted by Gemma who seems to be teasing him they get
05:37interrupted by a mouse and Martin is very angry so he killed it he later sees arsenic in their house
05:43and Gemma says it's for the mice it is the poison that killed Madame Bovary so he angrily tells Gemma to
05:49get rid of it one day Gemma goes to Wizzy's house and finds her ex-boyfriend Patrick talking with them
05:54he is surprised to see her and it seems that she has not yet moved on from the pain Patrick approaches
06:00Gemma and tells her that he and his wife are now separated he invites her to go out but she declines
06:05the next day Martin sees that Gemma's car has broken down he is about to approach her when Patrick
06:11comes out and comforts the distressed wife they make out in the middle of the street and Martin couldn't
06:16believe because Gemma is now having a second affair just like Madame Bovary while having lunch Gemma tells
06:22Patrick that she regretted what they did and she does not want it to happen again to which Patrick
06:27agrees while she is moving out their things Gemma finds the figurine that is already fixed she calls
06:33her husband to thank him and says that she missed him Martin visits her and he noticed that she packed
06:39up everything in the house when Gemma says she wants to end all of this the old man got worried that
06:44she might end her life just like what Madame Bovary did he accidentally mentioned about Harvey leaving
06:49her and Gemma realizes that it was Martin who wrote that letter of farewell the old man explains that he
06:55was just worried about her and Gemma says she wouldn't end up like Madame Bovary because it was just a novel
07:00however she appreciates his concern and kisses him the next day Martin leaves bread in front of Gemma's
07:06house Patrick later comes over and says that someone left them outside he asks her to come live with him in
07:12London but Gemma still declines Charlie arrives home but moments later he comes running to Martin
07:18to ask for help when the old man comes over he sees the lifeless body of Gemma on the floor that evening
07:24Martin asks the doctor if Gemma died from arsenic the doctor is confused and he tells him that she died
07:30from choking on a piece of bread the bread that he left her earlier at the funeral Martin tells Charlie
07:35that he felt guilty to what happened to Gemma but the husband says it was his fault because when he
07:40arrived he thought that Patrick was doing his wife so he pulled and beat him up Patrick also blames
07:46himself because while Gemma was eating he tried to be intimate which led her to choking on the bread
07:50he tried to do the Heimlich maneuver but Charlie misunderstood it when he finally realized it
07:56was already too late six months later Martin's son tells him about their new neighbor from Russia a
08:01woman named Anna Karenina this name startled Martin because it is another character from a Russian novel
08:07who also ended up in a tragic death when Martin left his son reveals that he was just kidding her
08:12name is actually Mercy and she is not from Russia not knowing this Martin goes to introduce himself
08:18to her hoping to prevent another novel based tragedy from happening did you like our movie recap
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