Harold Chasen is a young man obsessed with death. He stages elaborate fake suicides, attends funerals (usually for people that he doesn't know), and drives a hearse, all to the chagrin of his self-obsessed, wealthy socialite mother.[4] His mother sends Harold to a psychoanalyst, sets him up with blind dates, and buys him a luxury car, all schemes he subverts in his own way.
Harold meets 79-year-old Maude one day while at a random stranger's funeral Mass, and discovers that they share a hobby. Harold is entranced by Maude's quirky outlook on life, which is bright and delightfully carefree in contrast with his moribund demeanor. Maude lives in a decommissioned railroad car and thinks nothing of breaking the law; she is quite skilled at stealing cars and will swiftly uproot an ailing tree on public property to re-plant it in the forest. She and Harold form a bond and Maude shows Harold the pleasures of art and music (including how to play banjo), and teaches him how to make "the most of his time on earth."[4]
Meanwhile, Harold's mother is determined, against Harold's wishes, to find him a wife. One by one, Harold frightens and horrifies each of his appointed computer dates, by appearing to commit gruesome acts: self-immolation, self-mutilation, and seppuku. His mother tries enlisting him in the military by sending Harold to his uncle, who lost an arm serving under General MacArthur in the Second World War, but Harold deters the recruitment by staging a scene where Maude poses as a pacifist protester and Harold seemingly murders her out of militarist fanaticism.
As Harold and Maude grow closer, their friendship blossoms into a romance. Holding her hand, Harold discovers a number tattooed on her forearm, indicating Maude survived the Nazi death camps. Harold announces that he will marry Maude, resulting in disgusted outbursts from his family, analyst, and priest. Unbeknownst to Harold, Maude has been planning to commit suicide on her eightieth birthday. Maude's birthday arrives, and Harold throws a surprise party for her. As the pair dance, Maude tells Harold that she "couldn't imagine a lovelier farewell." When Maude reveals that she has taken an overdose of sleeping pills, and will be dead by midnight, Harold rushes Maude to the hospital. After learning of Maude's death, Harold is shown speeding down a country road, and sending the car off a seaside cliff. After the crash, the final shot reveals Harold standing calmly atop the cliff, holding his banjo and wearing colorful clothing for the first time in the film. After gazing down at the wreckage, he dances away to "If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out".
