Claude is an elderly theater critic living in Monterey, California, with his old friend and neighbor Shane since becoming a widower a few years ago. He spends his days worrying about his daughter, Selma, and his granddaughter, Tania—especially after his son-in-law, David, a prominent politician, is caught using public funds to pay for prostitutes. With the scandal tearing his family apart, Claude tries to stay busy by revisiting his former job, pitching new ideas to the newspaper where he worked for many years.

During one of his visits, Claude stumbles upon shocking news: the famous theater and film actress Lillian Blanche has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and placed in a quiet retirement community. Lillian was Claude’s first love when they were young and talented in the 1960s, but life forced them to go their separate ways and marry other people. Still deeply in love with Lillian, Claude convinces Shane to help him fake Alzheimer’s so he can infiltrate the community, be close to Lillian, and help her remember him.

His first attempt fails, but he persists, using letters and DVDs of their past performances. Shane checks in with Claude regularly to see if he’s made any progress. However, the plan faces unexpected challenges: Selma and Tania discover Claude is in the retirement community and assume he is genuinely ill; David tries to use Claude’s situation to clean up his public image; and Shane learns Claude lied to him, making him believe Lillian’s husband was dead.

Tania uncovers the truth about her grandfather’s deception and decides to help him, even though doing so could expose the entire scheme.