What is the plot of Sunset Boulevard?

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Billy Wilder poses in a suit and hat, leaning against a streetlamp with a sign reading Sunset Blvd. in a promotional photo for the film Sunset Boulevard. — Billy Wilder Billy Wilder in a promotional photograph for *Sunset Boulevard* (1950), which he directed.

Directed by Billy Wilder, Sunset Boulevard is a sharp critique of the film industry that centers on Norma Desmond, a delusional, aging silent-film star living in a decaying mansion with her butler and former husband, Max Von Mayerling.1

Desmond attempts a doomed comeback and takes on a frustrated young screenwriter, Joe Gillis, as her lover. The narrative follows the tension created by Gillis’s growing disgust with his dependent lifestyle and his attraction to a younger woman, a conflict that ultimately culminates in murder. The film is widely regarded as a masterpiece of film noir and is noted for its exploration of the dark side of Hollywood.1