King Lear decides to step down from his throne and divide his kingdom among his three daughters, demanding public declarations of their affection. While his eldest daughters, Goneril and Regan, offer lavish flattery, his youngest, Cordelia, speaks honestly and receives nothing, banished alongside the loyal Earl of Kent. Soon after abdicating, Lear discovers the bitter truth of his choice as Goneril and Regan systematically strip him of his remaining authority, dignity, and retinue, driving the old king out into a violent tempest on the heath.
Simultaneously, the Earl of Gloucester is manipulated by his illegitimate son, Edmund, who tricks him into believing his legitimate son, Edgar, is plotting against his life. Edgar flees and adopts the disguise of a mad beggar known as Poor Tom, wandering the same desolate landscape where Lear has succumbed to madness. Kent and a faithful fool remain by the king's side, seeking shelter in a hovel where Lear encounters the disguised Edgar and begins to question the nature of justice and human suffering.
Gloucester secretly aids the broken king, but Edmund betrays his father to the cruel Duke of Cornwall and Regan, who gouge out Gloucester's eyes in a horrifying act of brutality. During the struggle, a servant turns against Cornwall and wounds him mortally before being killed by Regan. Left blind and despairing, Gloucester is guided toward the cliffs of Dover by Edgar, still hidden in his beggar's guise, intending to end his life.
Meanwhile, Cordelia has married the King of France and returns to Britain with an invading army to rescue her suffering father. The forces of Regan, Goneril, and Edmund march out to meet them, while dark rivalries and treacherous romances fester among the sisters as both vie for Edmund's affections. The British forces secure a victory, capturing both Lear and Cordelia and setting the stage for a final reckoning.
Imprisoned by Edmund's orders, Lear finds peace in captivity with Cordelia, indifferent to the political turmoil surrounding them. However, a lethal web of jealousy unravels as Albany confronts Edmund with charges of treason, leading to a trial by combat where a mysterious champion defeats Edmund. Before dying, Edmund confesses to a secret execution order, but the rescue arrives too late to save Cordelia from being hanged.
Broken by grief, Lear carries the lifeless body of his daughter into the camp before dying of a shattered heart. With the wicked sisters dead by poison and suicide, and Edmund mortally wounded, surviving loyalists Kent and Edgar are left to pick up the pieces of a devastated kingdom.
