In a cheap Parisian hotel room Oscar Wilde (Rupert Everett, who also directed) lies on his death bed and the past floods back, transporting him to other times and places. Was he once the most famous man in London? The artist crucified by a society that once worshiped him? The lover imprisoned and freed, yet still running towards ruin in the final chapter of his life?
Under the microscope of death, he reviews the failed attempt to reconcile with his long-suffering wife Constance (Emily Watson), the ensuing reprisal of his fatal love affair with Lord Alfred Douglas (Colin Morgan) and the warmth and devotion of Robbie Ross (Edwin Thomas) who tried and failed to save him from himself.