In this sassy romantic comedy set in Manhattan during the 1980s, Charlotte (Kate Beckinsale), a domineering and highly opinionated graduate of Hampshire College, convinces her socially inept classmate Alice (Chloe Sevigny) to room in a cramped railroad apartment with Holly (Tara Subkoff). Then she introduces her to the dynamics of dating and fitting in at a fashionable disco. Soon Alice finds herself testing her wings in relationships with Tom (Robert Sean Leonard), a lawyer; Des (Chris Eigeman), a manager at the disco; and Josh (Matt Keeslar), a greenhorn prosecutor in the Manhattan DA's office. While Charlotte explores a romantic relationship with Jimmy (Mackenzie Astin) who works at an ad agency, Alice struggles to move ahead in the publishing industry.
The Last Days of Disco is the third and last in a series of romantic comedies by writer-director Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, 1990; Barcelona, 1994). The trademark of his always fascinating films is the propensity of his college-educated characters to intellectualize their experiences and to over-assess everything that happens to them. Stillman leaves no stone untouched here as the characters talk about dating, disco, sex, work, play, sanity, hymns, drugs, ethics, and much more.