Simon is shooting a film in India when his Uncle David calls him with a message of doom: “Come back to London, I think I may be dying.” What the viewer doesn’t yet know is that David is a Shakespeare-loving drama queen who has grown old on a diet of attention and applause. But Simon finds his own life drastically interrupted when he returns to try and sort everything out. David has no intention of dying.
As the months turn into years David accidentally makes himself homeless and refuses to go into a care home. While Simon tries to figure out how he can help his anarchic and spirited uncle, David sits in his kitchen reciting King Lear, “It’s the play about an old man becoming infirm, losing his mind and giving his kingdom away” he tells his nephew. Simon soon discovers that his uncle too has been giving away thousands of pounds to a hot young “carer”. As David’s life echoes the play that he loves so much, Simon is left with the challenge of trying to help David find a good ending to the drama that his own life has become.
“…joyous clarity…bittersweet empathy…in this achingly funny-sad film” – Variety
“In its refreshingly frank look at the end of life, Much Ado About Dying becomes a thought-provoking study of what it means to live.” – Screen Daily