Tamara Drewe (Gemma Arterton) is a young newspaper writer currently living in London. She has decided to return to her country home in the small village of Ewedown, where she learns that her childhood home is to be sold.

For the locals, the return of Tamara comes as something of a shock. Once considered the ugly ducking of Ewedown, Tamara has become glamarous (with the help of plastic surgery) and uses this to her advantage, reinventing herself as a femme-fatale.

It soon works as she attracts the attention of three men: romantic novelist and cheating husband Nicholas Hardiment (Roger Allam), self-important rock star Ben Sergeant (Dominic Cooper) and Tamara's ex-boyfriend Andy Cobb (Luke Evans).