Owen Lift har verdens mest dominerende mor. Han begynder på et skrivekursus, hvor professoren Larry Donner opfordrer ham til at se Hitchcocks klassiker 'Farligt møde' som inspiration. Owen bliver så inspireret, at han kopierer plottet og forslår Larry, at han skal myrde Owens mor. Til gengæld vil Owen skaffe Larry af med han irriterende ex-kone.
På universitetet i Oxford i 1925 bliver Charles Ryder ven med den unge, excentriske aristokrat Sebastian, søn af lord og lady Marchmain. Charles inviteres hjem til familiens storslåede gods, Brideshead, og snart er han og Sebastian uadskillelige. Charles forelsker sig i Sebastian's søster, Julia, men noget truer med at komme imellem dem. Nemlig familien Marchmain's stærke katolske tro.
A neurotic, twice-divorced sci-fi writer moves back in with his mother to solve his personal problems.
Julia Ross secures employment, through a rather-noisy employment agency, with a wealthy widow and goes to live at her house. Two days later, she awakens in a different house in different clothes and with a new identity.
About the foolish and lost Gabriel who lives entirely in the shadow of his brother, the brave soldier Mart who died in the war and is continuously immortalized by the dominant mother.
About the foolish and lost Gabriel who lives entirely in the shadow of his brother, the brave soldier Mart who died in the war and is continuously immortalized by the dominant mother.