Acerbic and irresistibly self-destructive Withnail and neurotic Marwood are down-at-the-heels actors in 1960s London, living in self-inflicted squalor and drowning their artistic frustrations with booze and any drugs they can get their hands on. Fleeing the doldrums - and unpaid bills - of the city, the pair finds themselves stuck in the less than idyllic country cottage of Withnail's lascivious uncle Monty.