Summary of "The Constant Gardener"

The Constant Gardener was directed by Fernando Meirelles in the year 2005.  It centers around a man named Justin Quayle who works for the British High Commission and his wife Tessa, a political activist.  The two travel to Nairobi, Africa where one day, Tessa's body is found after being brutally murdered.  Justin, taken completely by surprise, is left confused and heartbroken.


Justin makes it his mission to find out about Tessa's secret work in Africa so that he can uncover the truth about her death.  He comes to find that she was involved in divulging a plot to exploit Africans by a pharmaceutical company.  The company was testing a potentially fatal drug on the Africans, and would do anything to conceal this despicable deed - including murder anyone who they viewed as a potential threat.


In then end, Justin's knowledge of the company's abuse makes him a liability.  He meets the same cruel end as Tessa, but not before he was able to pass on his information to a cousin.  At Justin's funeral, the cousin publicly shares Justin and Tessa's findings, and the audience is left hoping that this information provides some kind of justice for the lovers.