In the late 17th century affluent Mrs. Herbert hires the young artist Mr. Neville to draw twelve detailed illustrations of her husband′s country estate. In return, she promises him perfect hospitality-and sex. Mr. Neville is a perfectionist and strives for a high degree of realism in the drawings, demanding no changes in the lay of the estate from day to day. Changes do creep in, however, affecting his accurate documentation, and when the dead body of Mr. Herbert appears on the grounds, the drawings become vital. The Draughtsman′s Contract is a deliberately paced, erotic, elegant mystery that has pretensions to being a simple story, but soon reveals that it is anything but simple. Much like the puzzle that Mr. Neville is trying to figure out, Greenaway forces the audience to draw their own conclusions and ponder the happenings in the garden, in the house and with the sheep. Revealing the story in fragments and by dropping subtle clues along the way, Greenaway fashions a graceful but vicious tale of the rot at the core of ruling elite.