Julian, an Argentinian actor living in Madrid, has terminal cancer. His former wife knows but his son, who is studying in Amsterdam, is being kept in the dark.
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Julian's cousin and chief carer is burning with fury and distress because, as only she knows, Julian is railing against his chemo regime and is planning an early exit.
When his old friend Tomas arrives from Canada for a farewell visit, however, he finds that Julian is chiefly concerned with his dog, a large and docile hound called Truman.
How will Truman cope with his passing? Where can he find Truman a new human companion?
Catalan director Cesc Gay has been a fixture on the festival circuit for many years but with Truman, which was an immediate hit at last year's San Sebastian film festival and cleaned up at Spain's Goya awards, he has clearly struck a chord with everyone who sees it. He thinks this may be because it doesn't try to say that death can be defeated.
"A lot of movies are built on the struggle: he goes to the doctor and in the end is saved," Gay says. "This films is, rather, about acceptance. Tomas takes that plane because Julian has decided he won't be coming back."
Julian is played by Argentinian star Ricardo Darin, generally regarded as the greatest actor now working in Spanish. Spanish character actor Javier Camara says he jumped at the film as a chance to work with Darin. "It was like a miracle to do this," he says.
On the first day of rehearsals – which took place in Camara's own lounge room – Darin turned up with the script, slapped it on the table and announced they were going to talk about how they had coped with death in their own lives. The conversation lasted for days.
"When you are of a generation [that has] to face up to death it's a kind of maturing, a kind of moment when you say 'OK, it's our turn'," says Camara. "Our turn to talk about this, because our parents are no longer here."
At the same time, as he wants to stress, the real subject of the film is friendship.
"OK, death is the problem, but life is the most important thing," he says. "Friendship, love and above all this kind of friendship where you don't need to say 'How can I help?'; a look, or a hand on the shoulder, is enough."
Also, as Gay kept reminding them, it is a comedy. They both cried a good deal during filming, but Gay cut it out.
"He wanted the audience to cry," says Camara, "but not us".
Truman screens at selected cinemas from August 11.
