After he was diagnosed with AIDS, film director and one-time UCLA film professor Tom Joslin decided to closely document his and his lover Mark Massi's experiences. The film follows his day to day life as he struggles to cope with the disease and its ravages. One particularly difficult section covers the lovers' journey to New Hampshire for what turns out to have been a final Christmas celebration with Joslin's family, which has kept Massi at arms-length for the twenty two years he has been Joslin's lover. As the film progresses, it becomes clear that the only factor which has made the experience at all bearable is the love between the two men. When Joslin dies, the filming continues, showing how his corpse is handled. His friend Peter Friedman continues the documentary to include the ironic aftermath of Joslin's death, in which Massi is welcomed into his lover's family. There are no overt political statements in this documentary; it is a virtually pure record of the two men's experiences as one of them is dying.