In 1978, the story begins with a narcissistic fading actress, Madeline Ashton, who is performing in a Broadway musical. She invites her long-time frenemy, the meek aspiring writer Helen Sharp, backstage, along with Helen’s fiancé, the famed plastic surgeon Ernest Menville. Smitten with Madeline, Ernest breaks off his engagement with Helen to marry Madeline, setting the stage for a tale of jealousy and revenge.
Fast forward seven years, and we find a lonely, obese, depressed, and destitute Helen committed to a psychiatric hospital. Here, she obsessively plots her revenge against Madeline, who has seemingly stolen her life. The contrast between the two women is stark, as Helen’s bitterness grows while Madeline enjoys her glamorous lifestyle.
Another seven years pass, and Madeline and Ernest are living an opulent yet miserable life in Beverly Hills. Madeline is increasingly depressed about her age and withering beauty, while Ernest, now an alcoholic, has been reduced to working as a reconstructive mortician. Their lives take a turn when they receive an invitation to a party celebrating Helen’s new book. Madeline, desperate to look younger, rushes for beauty treatments and is given the business card of Lisle Von Rhuman, a mysterious and wealthy socialite who specializes in rejuvenation.
At Helen’s party, Madeline is shocked to see that Helen has transformed into a slim, glamorous, and youthful woman despite being fifty years old. Jealousy consumes Madeline as she overhears Helen blaming her for Ernest’s career decline. In a moment of despair, Madeline visits her young lover, only to find him with a woman of his own age. This drives her to Lisle’s mansion, where she meets the youthful Lisle, who claims to be seventy-one years old. Lisle offers Madeline a potion that promises eternal life and youth.
Madeline drinks the potion, which miraculously reverses her age and restores her beauty. However, Lisle warns her that she must disappear from the public eye after ten years to avoid suspicion of her immortality and must treat her body well. Meanwhile, Helen, now emboldened by her own transformation, seduces Ernest and persuades him to kill Madeline.
When Madeline returns home, she belittles Ernest, who snaps and pushes her down the stairs, breaking her neck. In a shocking twist, Madeline inexplicably survives. Ernest, believing her reanimation to be a miracle, uses his skills to repair her body at home. However, Helen arrives and overhears their discussion about the murder plot, leading to a violent confrontation where Madeline shoots Helen with a shotgun. To everyone’s surprise, Helen survives, revealing that she too has taken Lisle’s potion.
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As the two women fight, they eventually apologize and reconcile, but their situation remains dire. Ernest, feeling overwhelmed, prepares to leave, but Helen and Madeline persuade him to repair their bodies first. Realizing they will need regular maintenance, they scheme to have Ernest drink the potion to ensure his permanent availability.
The pair knock out Ernest and bring him to Lisle, who offers him the potion in exchange for his surgical skills. Although tempted, Ernest ultimately rejects immortality, fearing the consequences of outliving everyone he cares about and the physical toll it has already taken on Madeline and Helen. He flees with the potion but becomes trapped on the roof. In a moment of desperation, Helen and Madeline implore him to drink the potion to survive an impending fall. However, realizing their selfish motives, he throws the potion away.
Ernest survives the fall after landing in Lisle’s pool and escapes, leaving Madeline and Helen in despair. They come to the realization that they will have to depend on each other for companionship and maintenance, forever. This sets the stage for a darkly comedic exploration of their twisted friendship.
Thirty-seven years later, Madeline and Helen attend Ernest’s funeral, where he is eulogized as having achieved true immortality by living an adventurous and fulfilling life, surrounded by many children and grandchildren. Now grotesque parodies of their former selves, with cracked, peeling paint and putty covering their grey and decrepit flesh, Helen and Madeline mock