This fascinating screen biography of the notorious English writer and playwright Oscar Wilde has been adapted for the screen by director Brian Gilbert based on the authoritative biography by Richard Ellmann. The film begins in 1882 when Wilde (Stephen Fry) is visiting America on a lecture tour. He returns to London and marries Constance (Jennifer Ehle) with whom he has two sons. However, a Canadian houseguest, Robbie Ross (Michael Sheen), draws out Wilde's homosexuality. He is there along with Oscar's Irish mother (Vanessa Redgrave) and Ada (Zoe Wanamaker), a long-time supporter, to celebrate Wilde's plays Lady Windermere's Fan and The Importance of Being Earnest. Both are smashing successes demonstrating his acerbic wit.

Wilde's creativity is fueled by a genuine yearning for beauty and youth. However, his obsession with the petulant and spoiled Lord Alfred Douglas (Jude Law) proves to be disastrous. When this young poet's homophobic father, the Marquess of Queensberry (Tom Wilkinson), attacks Wilde in public, Lord Douglas convinces his lover to bring a libel suit that is doomed to fail. Instead of being vindicated, Wilde is prosecuted for gross indecency for his homosexual activities. He is imprisoned for two years and dies a tragic death in exile in 1900. The film depicts the shadow side of yearning. When stoked by pride, it can lead to a headlong plunge into self-destruction.