Maggie Smith stars in playwright and screenwriter Israel Horovitz’s directorial debut, a wistful, charming comedy-drama about New Yorker Mathias (Kevin Kline), a failed playwright, three-time divorcé and a recovering alcoholic who inherits an apartment in Paris from his estranged father and is stunned to find a refined elderly Englishwoman (Smith) living there with her protective daughter Chloé (Kristin Scott-Thomas).
Mathias wants to liquidate the huge and valuable apartment, but is informed by Mathilde (Smith) that French law prevents him from gaining possession of the property until she dies.
Whilst working with an agent to sell his contract for the apartment, he stays with Mathilde, learning more about her relationship with his father, realising that their family histories are entwined, and resolving his own painful past.
Humorous, moving and very appealing, with lovely performances from Kline, Smith and Scott-Thomas, My Old Lady marks a promising film debut from Horovitz.