A struggling screenwriter develops an unusual relationship with a reclusive former movie star who still lives in the past, harboring dreams of reviving her faded glory.

Joe is a cynical screenplay writer disenchanted by his ill luck on the Hollywood scene. Norma is a washed-up silent-film star who didn't survive the transition to talking pictures. Together they begin a strange, mostly psychological, affair in her decaying house on Sunset Boulevard.—fishcalledjerk

Struggling screenwriter Joe Gillis is accosted by a pair of repo men, and takes refuge in what looks like a deserted house. It turns out to be inhabited by Norma Desmond, once the queen of silent pictures and now a forgotten relic. Desperate for a job, Joe agrees to edit a terrible script Norma has written for her comeback vehicle. The two of them form a bizarre symbiotic relationship, while Joe desperately tries to escape.—rmlohner