The writer Gustav von Aschenbach is depressed and suffering from writer’s block. An encounter with a mysterious Traveller makes him decide to travel south to Venice to refresh his imagination.

At his hotel in Venice, Aschenbach is struck by the beauty of Tadzio, a Polish boy who is holidaying with his family. During the following days Aschenbach’s fascination with the boy grows: he watches him on the beach, and secretly follows him through the streets of Venice. Even when rumours of a plague in Venice reach Aschenbach, and a series of unsettling incidents unnerve him, his obsession with Tadzio prevents him from leaving.