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Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.

Young adult Harold Chasen, solitary and friendless by choice, is obsessed with death, this fascination manifesting itself in he staging his own fake suicides, driving a hearse and attending funerals, even of people he doesn't know, all to the chagrin of his exasperated wealthy mother with whom he lives. Mrs. Chasen is determined for Harold to be "normal", including her sending him into therapy to deal with his issues and finding him a girlfriend through a computer dating service. It is at a series of funerals that Harold meets Maude, on the cusp of her eightieth birthday, she who too attends funerals of strangers. Unlike Harold, Maude is obsessed with life - her own life to be more precise - she does whatever she wants to please herself, damned what others may think or how they may be affected. Since she can't take material possessions with her, she is more interested in experiences, with whatever material possessions she has - often "borrowed" without asking - only to further those experiences. Their friendship is initially based on how the other can further their own priority. But as Maude shows Harold how to truly live, Harold falls in love with her. Their relationship, already limited in time by the sheer math, is curtailed even more as Maude shows him only not how to live well, but die well.—Huggo

Harold and Maude shows that love and sex are activated by a relationship enlivened by mutual complimentary needs. Maude, a septuagenarian meets Harold, a twenty's something guy at a generic funeral in a cemetery. Maude's life drive begins to animate him through a series of adventures and experiences valuable to all those who know"you can't take it with you". Harold feels understood and thrives. Maude loves Harold because it is the greatest of life's experiences.—geraldinetorf-912-201478

Harold is a depressed, death-obsessed 20-year-old man/child who spends his free time attending funerals and pretending to commit suicide in front of his mother. At a funeral, Harold befriends Maude, a 79-year-old woman who has a zest for life. She and Harold spend much time together during which she exposes him to the wonders and possibilities of life. After rejecting his mother's three attempts to set him up with a potential wife, and committing fake suicides in front of all of them, Harold announces that he is to be married to Maude. However, Maude has a surprise for Harold that is to change his life forever.—Rick Gregory <rag.apa@email.apa.org>

Harold is an eccentric young man. His hobbies are attending funerals and faking suicides. He became interested in death after he nearly escaped it in a chemical explosion at school one time. Ever since, he's been staging fake hangings, drownings, gunshots, you name it. Harold pulls these stunts to irritate his mother and satisfy his markedly warped sense of humor. He's from a wealthy household and has nothing better to do. He even performs these stunts in front of the dates his mother arranges for him, all of whom run out the door as a result. The mother is trying to keep him from being a dejected loner. Harold doesn't care. Harold likes Maude.

Maude is an unorthodox woman. She's an enlivened 79-yr-old old lady that lives without any hangups. She isn't preoccupied with judgment. She makes risqué sculptures, poses nude, plays a variety of instruments, steals cars-and goes to funerals too. That's where she and Harold meet. As much as she loves life and takes it like a breath of fresh air, she accepts death and isn't afraid of it. To her, death is a part of the cycle of life. And when it comes to living, sky's the limit. That's what she wants to teach the rather melancholic Harold.

Harold and Maude are drawn to each other despite their considerable age gap. They are a "yin-yang" relationship of her optimism and his pessimism. Harold is more of a subdued individual. Maude encourages Harold to explore the positives of life. She wants him to open up to all the world has to offer, develop the zeal for it that she has. Maude and Harold enjoy the days together, living in the moment. Harold is so smitten that he proposes to marry her, much to the abhorrence of everyone else. But this joy and romance won't last forever as Maude has another plan in mind. She's going to commit suicide on her 80th birthday, and she does just that by overdosing on pills. When she tells Harold about it, it's too late. Maude dies at the hospital. Harold then takes off in his car and it is seen going off a cliff, though when the camera pans up, Harold is standing there playing the banjo Maude gave him. Maude taught him a valuable lesson that obviously made him think twice. She taught him to appreciate his life.