This character-driven film follows the story of an upper middle class woman called Iris Prue (Sally Field).
When she divorcers her husband she is left in quite serious financial trouble and is forced into accepting a job as a housekeeper to earn money.
The woman she works for is called Paula Tanner (Judy Davis) who is extremely wealthy and an inwardly angry woman due to her own failing marriage, along with having a grown daughter who "specializes in being bad."
So it is that Paula takes out her resentments on the new housekeeper who has been able to accumulate friends, despite being constantly harassed and reprimanded by her angry employer.
However, as time passes, and Paula's own marriage finally collapses, Prue is at last able to befriend Davis and support her through her impending divorce.
A Cooler Climate is a Film programme that first aired in 1999 and has been classified a 15 certificate.
